


Ms. X.

by CrystalManner



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2018-09-16 17:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9282266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalManner/pseuds/CrystalManner
Summary: Crystal Manner never expected to be a mutant, or to be taken to Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Read as Crystal learns many unexpected things about her mutation and the world she lives in.This a more of an AU, and I will be changing a few things within the storyline. I've been working on this for about a year, and many chapters take place during the movies.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"So, why am I here again?" I asked my escort, and she gave me a 'you idiot' look. I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, shoving my hands into my jacket's pockets. Staring at my feet, I felt her gaze lift, and I looked up to her rolling her eyes. Ringing the doorbell again, she blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face.  
“You’re a mutant, so you come here. It’s plain and simple.” Mystique said, and it sounded rehearsed. “Next time, he’s getting his own students.” She growled under her her breath, but it was louder than it should have been. I was used to this, though, so I didn’t think much of it. She was turned away from me, so I couldn’t see her expression. I shrugged her comment off, and labeled it as none of my business. After about an eternity, a brunette man opened the door.  He was tall, and had pretty, blue eyes adorned with glasses. Hey, maybe the few minutes it would take for them to conclude I’m not a mutant won’t be entirely wasted.  
“Who’s this?” The man asked, curious. “Another wannabe mutant kid, I bet.” He murmured, a bit annoyed, with the same odd loudness Mystique had with her comment. What were these mutants so salty about.  
“This is Crystal Manner. She the newest… student.” Mystique looked annoyed, not seeming to want to be doing this. The man looked me over. I was short, had little muscle mass, and had nothing really that set me apart from everyone else. Well, my basic genetics were a bit unique, bronze hair and green eyes. The guy looked a bit disappointed. ‘Me too, fella.’ I thought to myself, bitterly.  
“Well, you’d best come in then.” He opened the door wider, bowed, and dramatically waved me in. I smiled, and raised an eyebrow, opening my mouth to comment. I was stopped before I could say anything, as I was unceremoniously shoved into a foyer. It was huge, with many doors, hallways, and two tall stair cases. It had some seating, and a man was sitting in a wheelchair beside one of the many tables near the door. He was analyzing a folder on his lap. His long hair was framing his face, and he seemed not notice us. Mystique cleared her throat, and he looked up. When he saw us, he beamed and I felt my face grow red. The man was breathtaking.  His brown locks were wavy, and his eyes seemed to be made out of the sky itself.  
‘Crystal, snap out of it’ I scolded myself, ‘This man is a mind reader’ He is the Charles Xavier I have heard and seen much about. I’ve looked him up ever since everyone heard his voice in our minds. ‘Damn, he is fine… STOP. Gah, I need professional help.’ Putting the file down on the table, he drove his chair over to us. He stopped in front of me, and I forced myself to keep my mind blank.  
“So, you must be Miss Crystal then?” He asked. I nodded, and he held out his hand with a smile. “I’m Professor Charles Xavier. I’ve heard you have, abilities.” I sighed at this, sad I had to disappoint him, but I still need to tell the truth.  
“It’s been lovely to meet you, but I’m sorry, I don’t have any abilities.” I confessed as I shook his hand. He frowned at this, and looked at Mystique for answers. She shrugged.  
“Her parents swear up and down that she is a mutant, Charles.” She explained. The man with glasses from before stood beside her, his brows furrowed in confusion.  Professor Xavier stared at me in either puzzlement or concentration.  
“This is curious…” He analyzed my face, then gave me an what was meant to be an encouraging smile. “Well, tell us what your parents say you can do.” I shifted my weight from my right leg, to my left, and back to my right again. I buried my hands even deeper in my leather jacket’s pockets, and gave a shrug of nonchalance.  
“It’s not original.” Against my wishes, my embarrassment grew. “They say I can read minds.” The Professor looked a bit surprised, Mystique took a quick breath, and the man raised his eyebrows.  
“And why do they think this?” Professor Xavier inquired calmly, and my face grew redder as his gaze intensified. I took my hands out of my pockets and started fiddling with my ring. Damn my awkwardness.  
“I just… listen when people think I’m not.” I looked just right of The Professor, unable to look him in his beautiful eyes. “That man over there guessed I was here to try and make you think I was a mutant when I came in.” I told him truthfully. The man and Mystique looked surprised, and I shrugged again. Professor Xavier looked slightly amused at their reactions, then gave me a queer look. When the other two were still staring at me, I rolled my eyes a bit.  
“I don’t know how you wouldn’t realise I could hear you, you said it pretty loud.” I turned to Mystique. “Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t hear him too, you were closer to him than I was.” The two of them looked at me like I had two heads, and the Professor raised an eyebrow, murmuring something to himself that I couldn’t make out. Then I felt a strange sort of buzz at the back of my mind. I looked around for the source, but there was only one person who I knew could possibly do something like this. When I looked at him, Xavier was intently at me, with two fingers pressed against his temple. He noticed me frowning at him, and he smiled, his hand dropping.  
‘Can you hear me?’ He asked, and I held back a scoff.  
“Of course I can hear you, you’re talking.” Hold back the sass, Crystal, I mentally scolded myself as the Professor gave me a look I couldn’t read. The others looked extremely confused. After some quiet muttering between the two of them, Mystique asked a strange question.  
“Charles are you… projecting?” I cocked my head as he shook his. With this answer, the two went back to their discussion. I started to look over to them, curious about what they were talking about, but his voice caught my attention again.  
‘Crystal, how often do you, hear things.?’ I rubbed my neck, bitting my lip.  
“Every so once in a while. It started up after I saw you guys on TV and heard you in my mind…”  
‘She most likely only started to notice it when she knew of our abilities…’ I frowned, opening my mouth, but the Professor continued. ‘Crystal, answer me honestly. Do you think I’m speaking out loud?’ This confused me. Of course he was talking out loud, how could I be hearing him if he wasn’t.  
“I know you’re speaking out loud, sir, I can hear you.” He smiled gently, almost patronizingly.  
‘Then why aren’t my lips moving?’ I felt the blood rush from my face. I had failed to notice the fact his mouth hadn’t moved during any part of our conversation. I felt like I had millions of questions, but my mind drew a blank. Finally, I settled on one that was bugging me intently.  
“W-what did she mean by, p-projecting?” I stammered, suddenly dizzy. Not noticing my sudden vertigo, his eyes lit up with humor.  
“That’s just what Raven calls one of my abilities, being able to speak through thought to another person, without them needing to be telepathic. I wasn’t, ‘projecting’. That means that all of my thoughts that you heard during our conversation, weren’t sent by me, you read them yourself.” That did not help, in fact it made it worse. I started to shake as my idea of reality crashed around me. I had no idea who I really was anymore.  
“B-but, I, I c-can’t be…” A cold sweat broke out on my skin, and my legs began to shake. Mystique put her hands on my shoulders, and tried to steady me. With a bout of nausea, my legs gave out under me, and I fell to my knees. I was in shock. I had experience with mild shock, and knew the symptoms well. All I could think was, ‘Don’t puke’. With my hands clasped tight over my mouth, I vaguely noticed a bell ring. Hundreds of people, children, teenagers, and adults stream out of the many rooms. Mystique was gently rubbing my back, suddenly concerned. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked,  I found Xavier’s face close to mine. I was almost glad I was in shock, normally my face would be tomato red. Letting go of my shoulder, he placed his hand against my forehead. He frowned, then looked to the others.  
“Hank, get her a glass of water.” He instructed calmly. “Raven, please pull up a chair.” The man, Hank, went off to get the water. Mystique stood, then grabbed the nearest chair. As she was getting it, a few kids asked what happened, and she said something quietly, then waved them off. This deterred the other students from doing the same. She was helping me into the chair as Hank came back with my water. He handed it to me, and I took a shaky sip, then held it in my lap. Staring into the glass, I got lost in my thoughts. What did it mean, now that I’m a mutant? How much would this change my life? What exactly can I do? A focused stare pulled me from the inner recesses of my mind. I looked up to the Professor, and he searched my face.  
“Are you alright now?” I nodded weakly, and he looked… relieved. “Now, I know it’s sudden, but we need to know, will you be staying at the school?” I nodded.  
“My parents need to know…” I murmured, the shock starting to subside. He nodded to Hank. I told him the phone number of the hotel, then he walked off. Mystique made me drink half of the water, then took it away. That left the Professor and I alone. He started talking about what I would be learning here, but my adrenaline filled mind couldn’t focus on all those words, so I just listened to his voice. He spoke in a calm, flowing way, his voice occasionally rising with enthusiasm, not to mention his accent.  
“Crystal? Are you listening?” The Professor asked, waving a hand in front of my face, and I instinctively nodded. He didn’t look convinced. In the back of my mind, I noticed a soft hum. Listening closer, it turned out to be voices, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. As soon as I distinguished one person’s thoughts from the jumble, it would be drowned out by the others. It was starting to give me a headache. I cocked my head and opened my mouth, unable to keep my question to myself.  
“Sir, is this how it is for you?” The Professor’s face contorted in confusion. “The constant noise? All of those people’s thoughts?” I elaborated. His face softened, and he gave me a sympathetic smile.  
“It was like that for a while, but I eventually figured out a way to drown them out.” He told me, and I winced. That didn’t sound fun. He gave me a concerned glance. “It’s not too overwhelming, is it?” I shook my head. It wasn’t that bed, and I prefered noise to complete silence. It would just take time to get used to.  
“That’s good.” He smiled again. I would never get tired of his smile. “Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one here learning to control their psychic powers.” I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse. Of course I’m not the only one here with abilities like his.  
“Oh?” I tried to sound excited. “Anyone in particular?” It must have worked, because he beamed at me and helped me to my feet.  
“I’m glad you’re excited. Her name is Jean Grey. I’ll introduce you to her.” He led me outside. “I bet she’ll be able to help you.” I nodded, but was distracted by the beautiful grounds. They were a lush, bright green with slight hills, ponds, and a scattering of trees.  
“Wow…” I whispered. The Professor chuckled at my expression, and we headed to a pair of teenagers. The girl had bright red hair, and the boy was wearing cool red shades. They were laughing at what one of them said, and turned to us when we drew close. The girl, Jean, grinned and the boy waved. I waved back with a tentative smile.  
“Is she new, Charles?” Jean asked, and the Professor said something, but I didn’t pay attention. I was focused on her. I could feel the sheer… power that radiated off her. The boy next to her was pretty strong, but his power was minuscule next to her’s. I was entranced.  
“It’s nice to meet you Crystal.” She held out her hand, and I clasped it, the trance overtaking me. I felt her power rush over me, and I fell to my knees, letting go of her hand. There was an intense heat all around me, and everyone’s thoughts were deafening. I screamed in agony and clutched my head as horrible visions raked across my closed eyes.  
“Crystal!” I heard the Professor shout, and Jean was trying to calm me down, asking what was wrong, her hands on my shoulders.  
“What the hell…” The boy swore, and he ran off, yelling for Hank. I shook and ground my teeth as the pain got worse. It was like someone was boiling me alive. How could she live like this?  
“Jean let go of her.” The Professor ordered Jean, rolling over to us. Jean let go, and I slumped. He lifted my chin up, and examined my face. The pain receded slightly, but it still felt like there was a fire in my head. I forced myself to open my eyes as hot tears streamed down my cheeks. He looked just as scared as I felt, he was searching for something in my eyes. The same trance came over me, and an unstoppable force made me let go of my head, and clutch the hand holding my chin. I probably held on too hard, but I was in too much pain to care at the moment. I gasped as the copied power was released back into the universe. All of my strength left me, and I collapsed onto the Professor. He held me by my upper arms, and someone helped him lower me to the ground. They put me face up, and my vision was blurry. I now think it only partially caused by the episode, as my glasses had fallen off as I fell.  
“Did I do this?” Jean asked tentatively, regret filling her voice. She was leaning over me, along with the boy, the Professor, and Hank.  
“No Jean.” The Professor told her reassuringly. “I believe it it part of her mutation…” He trailed off, deep in thought. They were a funny sight, looking all out of focus. I almost giggled.  
“Damn, and I thought my lasers hurt.” the boy whistled. “Did ya’ hear her scream?” Jean glared at him.  
“Yes, Scott, I’m pretty sure everyone in a three mile radius heard her scream.” She lightly punched him in the arm. Mystique soon joined the the crowd around me. She asked what happened, and Jean filled her in. The Professor and Hank were muttering to each other, and Scott was casually looking at me. I don’t know if they thought if I was unconscious or what, but when I cleared my throat, the group jumped and stared at me.  
“Can someone please get me my glasses.” I croaked, my throat feeling sealed shut. Scott gave me a small smile, and picked them up. He was careful to keep his hand from touching mine as he handed them to me. I forced myself to sit up, and I slid them on. I blinked slowly, and the blurriness fading.  
“So, anyone want to tell me what the hell that was?” I asked as I regained my bearings. Hank glanced at the Professor, who nodded, and answered my question.  
“We believe your, gifts, reacted to Jean’s when you touched her. It caused you to sort of, copy and amplify them. When you touched Charles, the reaction stopped. We believe you have the ability to copy other mutants’ powers with as little as a touch.” My jaw dropped and the others looked at me, slightly wary.  
“What?!” I whispered, my last bit of sanity for the day crumbling. The Professor patted my shoulder gently.  
“Your gift is unique,” He told me, trying to reassure me. “and as you learn about your abilities, we will be learning with you.” He ended it with a charming smile, but it didn’t help.  
‘Yeah, that's real reassuring.’ I snarked in my head, and I felt the same slight buzz  
‘There’s no need to be sarcastic.’ I frowned and looked up to the Professor with a fake innocent look on his face.  
‘Isn’t rude to read someone’s thoughts without their permission, sir?’ I quipped.  
‘You’ve read plenty of people’s thoughts without their permission, Miss Crystal.’ He raised an eyebrow, and waited for me to say think something back.  
‘I didn’t know I was doing it at the time.’ I growled. He gave a small smirk.  
‘So? You still did it. There’s no need to be hypocritical.’ I gave up.  
‘Please get out of my head, Professor.’ I did not need this right now.  
‘If you wish.’ He smirked even more, and a quick, inconspicuous pop in his head (he had already given me access) told me he thought he had somehow won our battle. Oh, there will be many more battles of wit, I promised, but I was to frazzled to battle now. We all sat there in an awkward silence, none of us able to say anything.  
“So,” Mystique stood and clapped her hands, breaking the silence. “How old are you, kid?”  
“What?” I asked, dazed.  
“We prefer to teach you in groups of people about your age.” She explained.  
“Oh. I’m nineteen.” They stared at me, disbelieving. “What? Really, I’m nineteen!” They still didn’t look convinced. “What, do you want me to pull out my I. D.?” I reached for my pant’s pocket.  
“There’s no need.” The Professor waved it off. “You just, don’t look your age.” I rolled my eyes. It’s because I am so short isn’t it.  
“Now that that’s cleared up,” Mystique helped me up, and motioned for the Professor to go on ahead. “let’s show you to your room.” Thankfully, my powers didn’t act up and I wasn’t blue or looking like the way she did now. She held onto my arm, in case my legs decided to give out again, and the Professor led us back to the school. I waved to the others, and they waved back. We went back into the foyer, went down one of the many hallways, and took a right. We headed down to the end of the hall, and he motioned to the second to last door.  
“I’ll put you next to Jean since you two, hit it off so well.” We all shared a tense laugh. Mystique handed over my room key, and walked off. I unlocked the door, and walked in. I gasped.  
It was perfect. The room was a cozy size and had a huge bookshelf on one wall. I headed over there, as I looked at the other parts of the room. There was a soft looking Queen sized bed, and it had two nightstands with reading lamps. Looking back to the bookshelf, I reached out for the books. Running my fingers along the spines, I read the titles. They were a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction.  
“Do you like it?” The Professor asked from the doorway. Turning around, I beamed at him, he looked so nervous and adorable.  
“I love it, Professor.” He gave a small shrug, and a smile graced his lips.  
“That’s great, and please, call me Charles.” I raised an eyebrow at this. “It’s strange for a grown woman to call me Professor. It makes me feel, old.” I laughed, walking up to him.  
“I don’t think you’re old, Pro-,” I stopped myself. “Charles.” He blushed slightly, and I grinned. He was even cuter like this. Oh, I pray he isn’t listening to my thoughts right now. Closing the distance between us, I leaned down and hugged him.  
“Thank you.” He went stiff, but eventually hugged me back. Very platonically, sadly.  
“You’re welcome.”


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I sat on the edge of my new bed, lazily flipping through the pages of a book. I was extremely bored. Charles had told me before he went back to work that classes wouldn’t end for a couple hours or so. That left me with nothing particularly interesting to do, other than to look around. I was a bit nervous to do that though, as I wouldn’t have someone to show me around, and knowing me, I would get lost. Sighing, I put the book down on one of the nightstands and walked out into the hallway. Closing my door, I contemplated my options. Should I traverse the grounds, with the threat of getting in someone’s way, or should I explore the halls with the likely chance of getting lost? I went with the latter.  
I passed by a few people I recognized as I strolled into the foyer. I spoke to Jean, Scott, and Mystique as I went past them. I poked my head into the entrance to what I supposed was his office, and found Charles focused on some paperwork. Biting my lip, I considered popping in to say hey, but I didn’t want to disturb him. As I looked around the huge room, I found myself deep in thought. What may happen now that I know I’m a mutant. My friends may not understand, and leave me. Of course, there would be a few that would stand by me, also I have new friends here. Engrossed in my thoughts, I slammed into someone.  
“Sorry!” Hank and I exclaimed at the same time. I had hit his torso, and the force of it made me fall onto my butt. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then busted out laughing. He helped me up, and I dusted myself off.   
“Where ya heading to Hank?” I asked, anything sounding interesting at this point.  
“The Lab.” He straightened his papers and blinked when I was still standing there. “Do you want to come with me?” I beamed at him, lifting myself up on the balls of my feet.  
“Sure!” I put my arm around his elbow, my abilities not kicking in, and motioned for him to lead on. He rolled his eyes with a smile, putting the papers under his other arm. We strolled arm-in-arm to the Lab. It was a bright room, full of test tubes, Bunsen burners, and vials full of colorful liquids. It was a proper laboratory. I let go of Hank, and moseyed around, oohing and aahing. He chuckled at my exclamations, and showed me around. He talked about a lot of science-y things, and I followed along, nodding every so often. I started to pay extra attention when he started to talk about genetic mutations. He went on about it for a while, most of it about normal mutations like hair, eye, and skin color. These were kinda dull, but occasionally, Hank would delve into ability mutations. Those interested me most, you know, since I am a mutant. As all good things must come to an end, he eventually ran out of mutation facts.  
“That’s pretty much all I know.” Hank concluded after about an hour of summarizing just about every mutation, or so it seemed. “I could only go into the basics, Charles could probably teach you so much more than I can.” I stood up straighter, interested.  
“Charles? Really?” I asked, my tone innocent. Genetics had always been a interest of mine, and if Charles had a passion for them as well, we could have some interesting discussions. Well, to be honest, it is mainly a reason to spend more time with Charles, but I wasn’t lying about my interest.  
“Yeah, he got a Ph. D. in it, and his thesis was on genetic mutations.” I raised an eyebrow.  
“Wasn’t that how the first X-Men team got started?” Hank glanced at me, confused.  
“How do you know about that?” I shrugged.  
“It was in one of the books I read in my room. It was originally called the ‘G-Men’, right?” He nodded. “I thought so. Whoever’s idea it was to change it was a good one, I prefer X-Men over G-Men.” He gave a quiet chuckle.  
“Me too, kid.” With this lovely bit of knowledge about Charles, I moved the conversation forwards, mentioning my fascination for chemistry. His face lit up, and we started a new discussion.  
When the last bell for the day had rung, I bade Hank adieu, and walked back to the foyer. I spotted Jean and Scott in a small group and walked over to say hi. I met two people, Jubilee and Kurt or Nightcrawler, both of their names were fit perfectly. Jubilee was a happy looking gal, and she was always chewing gum. Nightcrawler looked the part, he was blue, had a tail, and kinda looked like a devil-bat (in a good way). I found out he was German, and we had a bit of a chat in german, as I had learned some in highschool, and have taken a few trips around Europe. Soon the conversation was over, as everyone had to put their books back and get ready for dinner.  
“Bye!” I called as we parted ways. “Tschüss!” I added for Kurt. He beamed and said it back. I smiled to myself, this was going to be even better than I thought it would. After dinner, which I zoned out during, I found myself back in the foyer. I was leaning against a wall, deep in thought again (I found that I was a lot more unlikely to run into someone while stationary). I’ve been done with school for a year, but I guess that and college being inevitable wasn’t enough. I smiled at that, and my smile grew as I remembered my graduation. My announcement as Valedictorian played in my head, and I almost didn’t notice Charles right in front of me. I looked up, and jerked in fright. That man had the audacity to smirk while I was having a mild heart attack.  
“Charles! You scared the hell out of me!” I clutched my chest dramatically and he laughed. When I had calmed down, I spoke. “What’s up?” I asked, fixing my jacket.  
“Well, I was going to call you down here, but I conveniently found you standing right beside my office.” Turned my head to the right, and low and behold, I was next to his office. My face went hot.  
“Er, well, what is it.” I stammered, hopelessly trying to keep my voice level. Charles seemed to find my embarrassment amusing, and he motioned me into his office.  
“There is a few things we need to discuss, so it’s best if we speak in my office.” My pulse quickened as my brain went to the worse possible thing that could happen. My face grew hotter. He couldn’t know, could he?  
“Know what?” Charles asked as he closed the door. I didn’t think my face could get any hotter and redder, but it found a way, of course.   
“Nothing! Why are you listening to my thoughts?” I rushed, forcing my mind to go blank. He gave me a look that said, ‘really?’.   
“It’s rather hard not to hear your thoughts when you practically shout them.” Shifting, my panic ceased.  
“Oh. Sorry…” He waved off my apology and rolled his chair behind his desk. There was a chair in front of it, and he motioned for me to sit. I quickly sat, wanting to get this embarrassing torture over with. It’s ironic that just a bit ago I was looking for a reason to be here.   
“First, I have called your parents again to tell them when to bring your things. They will be here in a bit.” I nodded. “Second, you will train your abilities and learn our history. A few other classes, for those who have already graduated human school, are optional, but we prefer to have all of our students to take a class on it.” I nodded again, I enjoy history. “Finally, and most importantly, us.” Inside my head, I mentally screaming into a pillow, hoping he couldn’t hear me. Externally, I just went pale.  
“Um...us…?” My voice was shaky, and I hoped he wouldn’t notice it.  
“Your training.” I breathed a small sigh of relief. “I was originally going to have Jean be your main teacher, but as that won’t work right now, I will be your primary teacher.” I nodded slowly, shocked. Was this a stroke of good luck...or bad? Sure, I would be able to spend more time with him, but it would also give me more opportunities to make a fool out of myself. Charles noticed my uneasy expression, but mis-guessed the cause.  
“Don’t worry, it won’t be that bad. I’ve been told I’m a great teacher.” He smiled, joking, leaning his head on a hand. “What do you think?” Damn, that was too close. I put on a confident mask, and look into his sky blue eyes.  
“I think that sounds great, Charles.” I stammered, mentally cursing my awkwardness. Smooth Crystal, real smooth. His smile broadened, shuffling some papers on his desk.   
“That’s great. Now, your first class will be Ms. Valdez’s History of Mutants. In her class, you will receive your general day-to-day schedule. Just follow it, and some changes may be made in the future.” I nodded and got up.  
“Good night, Crystal.” I smiled at him and waved.  
“Good night, Charles.”  
As I was walking out, Hank grabbed me and told me my parents were here. I nodded, and found them waiting for me in front of the school. We hugged, promised to call and write, and they handed over my duffle bag. Kissing both of them on the cheek, I went back to my room. I took a quick shower, and changed into pajamas. My parents decided to be amazing, and had bought me school stuff, you know, notebooks, pencils, etc.  
When I was done, it was around 9 pm, and everyone over 10 was awake. Instead of being social and locating my new friends, I sat on my bed and read. It was a fascinating book, volume one of a two-part set. It was about genetic mutations. Sadly, I read it quickly, and it was only 10.  I looked at the bookshelf longingly, but I was to comfy to get up. Giving up, I put the book on one of the nightstands, flicked the light off, and snuggled under the covers. The stress of the day and the cozyness made me fall asleep in seconds.  
I woke up to a loud, hard knock on my door. I mumbled something along the lines of ‘five more minutes’ before I zonked out again. The person, undeterred, started banging repeatedly on my door, probably waking everyone in the house who had the audacity to still be asleep.   
“Crystal! Get up!” Jean yelled, but I didn’t respond. “It’s time for breakfast.” My stomach growled, and I knew its position in this. Grumbling, I rolled out of bed with a thunk. I heard a muffled snicker behind the door as I fumbled around for some clothes and got dressed, and ran my fingers through my hair. Opening the door, Jean almost hit me in the face as she prepared to knock again.  
“I’m up…” I mumbled, rubbing my face. She looked me over and giggled.   
“What?” I looked down, trying to see if anything was out of place. She waved her hand up and down.  
“Your face doesn’t match. Your hair is tangle free, your clothes are perfect, yet your face looks like you’ve been in a coma.” I glowered at her.  
“Thanks Jean…” I drawled sarcastically, rubbing my face again, and I noticed something was missing. “Where are my glasses?” Jean giggled again, and pointed to the top of my head. I growled, and shoved them down. She laughed as I stomped off, not really sure where I was going. Having pity, she led me to the dining room. Actually paying attention, I saw many spread out tables, and on one side of the room, breakfast was laid out. Scanning the table, I found it.  
“Coffee.” I murmured, speed walking to the godsend. In my peripheral, Jean shook her head. She leaned on the edge of the table as I fixed my coffee.  
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a coffee drinker. You seem like more of a tea person.” I shrugged.  
“I like tea, I just need coffee in the morning.” Jean chuckled. “I mean it! Without it I get a killer headache!” She shook her head again, and we loaded our plates up with breakfast. I followed her to a table, where our friends were. She sat next to Scott, and I sat next to Kurt. On the other side of me, beside Jubilee, was a dark girl with white hair. I gave her the most friendly grin I could muster with my coffee level so low. I held my hand out, and prayed my powers wouldn’t be ornery.  
“I don’t think we’ve met, my name’s Crystal Manner.” She was powerful, I could sense it, but thankfully my powers didn’t act up. She shook my hand firmly. She had a great handshake.  
“I’m Ororo Munroe, but I prefer Storm.” She had an accent, but I couldn’t place it.   
“So, you have control over storms?” At the time, I found this a pretty reasonable question, but the others found it dumb. The snickered, and I glared at them, and Storm grinned.  
“Yeah, something like that.” I gave her a fist bump.  
“That’s cool.” The others told me their powers as well. Kurt could teleport and sort of camouflage himself, Scott could shoot lasers out of his eyes, Jubilee could shoot balls of energy (or fireworks as she called them) from her hands, and Jean was telepathic, telekinetic, and had another power not even Charles really understood. I patted her hand.  
“Yeah, I’ve seen it first hand.” I gave a dramatic wince, and she jokingly slapped my arm. Joining in, Scott imitated my scream, and I imitated his dumbstruck look. The others might not have seen it, but they got a kick out of our performance. At the time of the episode it might’ve sucked, a lot, but now it was funny. In a dark way… Soon, the bell signaling the end of breakfast rang, and we cleaned up.   
“So,” I asked to no one in particular. “anyone have Ms. Valdez for History of the Mutants for their first class?” I was hoping at least one of my friends would. Jean and Storm nodded, and I sighed in relief. We all went to get our stuff, then Jean and I met Storm at the door. The teacher was a kind-looking lady, and she smiled as she handed me my schedule and a textbook. I went to sit beside Jean and Storm, but Ms. Valdez stopped me. When everyone had settled down, she cleared her throat to get their attention.  
“Good morning, class. There will be a new student joining us today.” She motioned to me, and all the eyes were on me. “Her name is Crystal, and I want you all to help her out, it’s her first day of classes.” She gave my shoulder a squeeze then let me go. By this time my face was burning and red. I hated when teachers would introduce me to the whole class like that. With an empathetic look, Jean patted the seat between her and Storm. I sped-walked to it and quickly sat down. Once I had gotten my things out and the muttering around the room died down, Ms. Valdez started class.  
The class was only an hour, so it was over quick. I had a break before my next class, but sadly Jean and Storm didn’t, so I was alone. My break was only 30 minutes, so I didn’t have to wait long. I spent my break outside watching the others train. My break and next few classes passed in a blur, and soon it was 12. We had lunch, then I had a bit of time before I was to see Charles, so I cleaned up a bit. Brushing my short hair, I pulled it back in a braid. I was in a black tank top with stars, and a loose pair of dark blue jeans. When I was done, I sat in the foyer to wait for Charles.  
‘Hello.’ I jumped as Charles’s voice filled my thoughts. I looked around, but couldn’t find him.  
‘Where are you?’ I thought, glancing in his office. It was empty.  
‘This is your first test, find me.’ I swore under my breath, and his laughter bouncing around my head.  
‘Concentrate.’  
“I am concentrating!” I growled, but there was no response. A kid near me gave me a weird look, but ran off when I glared at him. I stood still, closing my eyes. The ever present murmur of thoughts was itching at the back of my mind, and I tried to single out the Brit’s thoughts, to no avail.  
‘You’re going to have to try harder than that.’ I was starting to get extremely frustrated. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself. Behind my closed eyes, I imagined I was Charles, and where I would hide. With a bit of a dropping feeling, a vision filled my senses. What I was seeing was a bit fuzzy, so I breathed in my nose and smelt...books. I smirked and headed to the library. I tried to look like I was just casually going to the library, but my excitement showed. As soon as I opened the door, I glanced around, looking for Charles. I frowned when I couldn’t find him, after looking up and down the aisles. Eventually I just stood for a moment, confused. I was sure this is where he is....  
“Boo.” I jumped, holding back a scream as I whipped around, glaring at Charles. He was sitting in front of one of the aisles I had just been down.  
“How did you do that?” I raised my eyebrows, impressed. He just smirked, put two fingers on his temple, then he disappeared again. I walked slowly to where he had just been, and reached out. As I expected, my hand collided with something squishy. It was Charles’s face.  
“Hey!” I giggled as he reappeared, rubbing his cheek.  
“Sorry Charles. Still, how did you do that?” I was as excited as a kid in a candy shop. I put my index and middle fingers against my temple, but nothing happened. He shook his head with a bit of an eye roll.  
“I just do that to focus. As for my disappearing act, I was altering what you were perceiving.” I cocked my head.  
“Like an illusion?”  
“Precisely.”  
“That’s cool.” I smiled at his surprised expression. We were standing in the middle of the non-fiction section, and I noticed a few books on genetics. I looked around and spotted the partner of the book I had read last night.   
“Hey!” I plucked it off the shelf and inspected it. “I was going to look for this!” It was called Mutations in Genetics, a thesis, Volume Two. I grinned, then I noticed something odd. The author had his picture on the front cover, but he looked extremely familiar. I hadn’t noticed it last night. Scanning the page, I gasped when I read the author’s name. Charles Francis Xavier. Charles, freaking, Xavier. I almost dropped the book, but my love for books and it being a library book helped me keep it clutched in my hands. Charles rode over, and glanced at the book and frowned.  
“You’ve been reading my thesis?” He asked, gently prying the book from my hands. I nodded, swallowing.  
“Yeah, I found the first part very interesting, but I finished it quickly, so I was going to look for the next one.”  
“Where on Earth did you get the first one?”  
“It was on my bookshelf.”  
“Hmmm…” Charles opened the book and cringed. “God, why did I think that pose was a good idea?” I looked over his shoulder at the picture. Nothing seemed odd about it, but I noticed the fingers on his temple, and I snorted.  
“Well, I doubt anyone noticed.” I patted his shoulder, and took the book back. “Also, where is the librarian?” Charles looked a bit uneasy, and tried to keep a blank face.   
“I may have told her to take a break…”  
“When will she be back?”   
“I told her to take an hour, so, 45 minutes…?” I frowned at him.  
“You thought it would take me an hour to find you?” I was slightly insulted, though I knew he probably didn’t mean to insult me. He shrugged, his cheeks slightly pink.  
“You’re more powerful than I thought.” I scoffed, but quickly realized I had just scored, if I played my cards right, about 45 minutes with Charles Xavier. In a library. My lucky day, I thought, holding back a smile. Putting the book back, I put a finger on my lips, thinking over my words. Judging by Charles’s expression, he noticed my gesture, and looked a bit curious. I tried my best not to blush, like I usually do, at his attention.  
“I was wondering…” He leaned back, his eyebrow raised. “if along with training my abilities, you could teach me genetics?” He looked shocked, not expecting this.  
“You could always get Hank to teach you…” I shook my head.  
“No, I want you to teach me.”  
“Why?” The buzz that signified his presence in my head wasn’t there, so I thought over my options. ‘You’re the hottest of the teachers?’ Not a good idea. ‘You’re one of the only teachers I fully listen to?’ That’ll probably get me a lecture.  
“Your book taught me more than all of my teachers ever could. So, if you taught me yourself, I could probably pass an entire college course in a few weeks.” Yes, stroke his ego a bit. He looked shocked, then pleasantly surprised.  
“Well, I guess I can find the time. Alright then.” Unable to stop myself, I gave a little air punch and let out a small, victorious ‘yes!’. Charles stared at me in a mix of confusion and concern.  
“I-I mean, thank you!”  
“You’re welcome….I think.”


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

After a few weeks, life started to fall into a rhythm. I would have my first few classes, then lunch, then I would train with Charles. Not too long after, I started to train with my friends, copying their gifts and learning how to control them. I had started to get good at that, and I could just take certain abilities, like taking just Hank’s strength and speed without turning fuzzy and blue. It also turned out, I wasn’t just copying their gifts, but amplifying them. With a single touch, I could do what any mutant could do, but better. Well, I had to learn how to actually use them, but still. I was one of the most powerful mutants in the school. This was a bit of a curse though. A lot of the other students, mostly the older ones, feared what I may do, and refused to have anything to do with me. I didn’t really care, but it stung. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, since I had human and mutant friends already, and they weren’t going to leave me anytime soon.  
Speaking of which, one of my dear friends was currently trying to burn me with lasers.   
“Oh, you can do better than that!” I taunted Scott, teleporting out of the way of the laser blast he had just sent my way.  
“Just you wait, Copycat!” Scott growled, and shot at me again. Copycat was his nickname for me, and I had considered using it for my code name, but Jean and Charles thought it was a bit too obvious. I yelped, and teleported away. Thankfully, the Danger Room’s walls were laser proof, or we would have fried some people by now. Scott and I have been training for an hour or two by now, and he was starting to get tired. Well, I was too, but I didn’t show it (Lies, so many lies). We were soon dismissed when I teleported while falling, and slammed my forehead against the wall.  
“I can keep going…” I mumbled as Hank bandaged my head. He rolled his eyes.  
“The deep gash and possible concussion say otherwise, Crystal.” I kept trying to get up, but he held me there, looking at my eyes with a flashlight.  
“Is she alright?” Scott asked, poking my leg with his foot.  
“Yes, but you won’t be if you don’t stop.” I warned, with a dramatic swipe at his leg. My bump had left me slowed, and he easily dodged my attack.  
“Sure Crys, I bet I will.” Scott said sarcastically, and he ruffled my hair. Pouting, I swiped at him again, halfheartedly. He just snickered, and walked off. Flipping a very rude gesture to his back, I leaned back against the wall with a huff. Hank put his medical stuff back in his bag, then he helped me up.  
“You don’t have a concussion, but I don’t want you doing any more physical training for at least the rest of the day.” He ruffled my hair too. “Doctor’s orders.” I grumbled about all these men treating me like a little kid, and he did it again. Standing outside the Danger Room, I fixed my hair as I waited for Charles. He told me earlier that he wanted to know how my training had gone, and to reset my abilities. Since I had copied Charles’s abilities first, his were my sort of, default. We still weren’t sure how I had done it, as my abilities were brought on by touch, and before this year I hadn’t even met him. Soon, Charles was rolling over to me from one of the halls. I smiled and followed him to his office. When I sat down, he folded his hands on the desk and started.  
“So, training was a bit rough today?” He asked, waving his hand at my bandage. It throbbed in agreement, and I winced.  
“Eh, I’ve had worse. I fell into a wall.” He gave a short snort, and I glared at him.  
“Sorry.” He held out his hand and I grabbed it. “So, other than the wall incident, did training go well?” I shivered slightly as the power left, but something felt odd. Ignoring it (not smart), I let go of Charles and started fiddling with one of his paper weights. This was customary.  
“Yeah!” Scott and I trained longer than any of our other sessions.” He nodded approvingly and took the paper weight I was playing with.  
“That’s good, you’re improving.” I beamed.  
“Yep! What are we doing today?” I perched on the edge of the chair, and if I had a tail, it would be wagging right now. That isn’t entirely impossible…  
“I was thinking we could work on something new, and then I would give you another lesson in mutations.”  I squeed at the mention of genetics, and Charles shook his head, chuckling. I had been learning loads recently, and he has started to give me college level tests to see if I actually could pass them. On my first try, I tried to be cheeky, and read his thoughts for the answers. That got me nothing but an icy glare. My grades on these were slowly rising, and my heart would flutter when he would beam and tell me how good I was doing.  
“So, what are we trying today?”  
“This will be extremely new to you, so if you don’t get it on your first try, don’t get discouraged.” He considered his words for a moment. “I want you to try and make me do something.” I had been staring out the window, but as soon as the words passed his lips, I whipped my head towards him.  
“What??” I sputtered.  
“Controlled movement and emotions are controlled in the brain. So, if you can access the right parts of the brain, you can potentially control the person.” He placed his fingers against his temple, and I started to laugh hysterically. I couldn’t stop, and my stomach was starting to hurt.  
“HA-HA-Stop-HA-I get it-HA!” I was gasping for breath. With a slight smirk at my red face, he released me. I sat there for a second, taking a long, deep breaths. Once I had enough oxygen, I huffed and glared at him.  
“I swear Charles Xavier, as soon as I figure out how to do that, I’ll do much worse to you.” Charles raised his eyebrows, his smirk growing, and ticking me off.  
“Oh, really?” I snarled, which startled him. With him off guard, I easily found my way into his head. Gripping the armrests of the chair, I concentrated as I raced through his memories. With a smirk of my own, I found a memory and transferred the feelings over. It was a childhood memory, Raven had pinned him down and was tickling him. It lasted for a good few minutes. I raised an eyebrow as Charles’s expression changed from smug to disbelieving. Soon, his whole body was shaking with laughter. I cocked my head in fake confusion.  
“What’s so funny Charles? Is something wrong?” He glared at me through his shaking. After a few more moments, I had pity and let go of him. It took him longer to recover from the laughing fit then it took me. I posed victoriously on the chair as he caught his breath.  
“I’m too old for this…” Charles groaned, rubbing his face. I giggled as he glared at me. “I should never have taught you that.” I nodded dramatically and he huffed, and started writing on a piece of paper. I tilted my head to the side, trying to read what he was writing. He had almost perfect handwriting, it was almost like he had typed it on a computer. With slight buzz in my head, Charles looked up with raised eyebrows.  
“Nosey.” He chided, but turned the paper around. It was notes on my progress. I glanced through them, slightly surprised.  
“Outstanding progress? Extraordinary adaptability? I don’t deserve these compliments Charles.” I joked, turning the paper back. “Did you put the wrong name on the top?” He rested his head on his hand, and I stared into those breathtakingly blue eyes.  
“You’ve earned every single one, and I’m positive I didn’t write the wrong name.” I blushed at the sincerity in his voice, I had only been joking. With a mischievous smile, I leaned in a bit.  
“Can I give some notes on you, Charles?” He looked surprised, but nodded.  
“Sure.” I pondered for a moment, biting my lip.  
“Brilliant teacher. Amazing telepathy.” I subconsciously drew closer with each compliment.  
“Oh really? Anything else?” He asked jokingly. I was captured by those damn eyes again. I licked my lips, unable to stop myself.  
“Dazzling, blue eyes.” I breathed, leaning even closer. Charles looked shocked, but I pressed my lips to his before he could say anything. I closed my eyes, but I felt his startled gaze. We were still for a moment, neither of us moving. Instead of jerking away, like I feared he would, he raised a hand to my cheek. I felt his eyes close, and I leaned closer over the desk, tilting my head slightly. I grabbed his shirt sleeve tightly, pulling him closer. We stayed in that blissful embrace for a few heartbeats. With a little pop, we slowly leaned back. Staring into each other’s eyes, we sat there, unable to believe what had just happened. With a little shake, I turned bright red.  
“I- uh- um…” I rubbed my face, and found that my gash had reopened. “I… have to go!” I jumped up, and rushed out of the room, leaving a mystified Charles. I ran through the foyer and down a hall, not paying attention to where I was going. Breathless, I leaned against the wall. The passing students gave me weird looks, but didn’t ask anything. They were used to weird things happening all the time. I stood there for anywhere from a few seconds to an hour. I spent my time there trying to wrap my head around what had happened. My thoughts were disturbed as Hank walked from the foyer to me. He had a confused look, then started speed walking to me. I frowned at him for a moment, confused, then I felt a drop of blood drip down my cheek. I had forgotten all about it in my escape from Charles’s office.  
“What the hell happened?” Hank swore as he reached me, but he didn’t wait for me to respond. He dragged me down the hall to his lab. Once there, he shoved me on a stool and grabbed his first aid kit. I winced as he gently peeled the bandage away from the gash. “Damn.” He swore again. “You’re going to need stitches.” I whimpered. I HATED needles. “Do you want me to get someone? Charles?” With what happened a few minutes ago, Charles was the last person I wanted right now.  
“No, he’s...busy right now. I’ll call Jean.” He looked a bit skeptical, but asked no questions. I focused on Jean’s thoughts.  
‘Jean, can you come to the lab for a bit?’ There was a pause.  
‘I’m in the middle of class, why?’  
‘I- uh, need some moral support.’  
‘How bad did you get hurt?’ I smiled fondly, she knew me so well.  
‘I need stitches…’ Another pause.  
‘I’ll tell him it’s an emergency.’ I sighed in relief.  
‘Thank you Jean.’  
‘You’re welcome.’ I cut the connection off and looked at Hank.  
“She’s on her way. You, uh, may need to write her a note.” Hank didn’t get my hint. “You may need to tell her teacher that this actually was an emergency.” Realizing what I was saying, he groaned.  
“You couldn’t have picked a better time for this?” I growled at him.  
“Wow, sorry Hank, I’ll totally start to bleed out at a more convenient time.” I snapped and Hank rolled his eyes.  
“You know what I meant.” I opened my mouth to say something back, but Jean walked in. Seeing our expressions, she raised her eyebrows.  
“Did I interrupt something?”  
“No, Hank was just about to write you an excuse.” I glared at Hank, daring him to say otherwise. Being smart, and knowing a continuation of our silly argument would result in his lab being put in jeopardy, he just rolled his eyes again. He scribbled the note on a piece of paper as he got ready. When he finished both and brought the stuff over, Jean stood by my side. As the needle pushed in and tugged my skin together, I gripped her hand, whimpering. Too late to realize what I was doing, I felt power rush over me. Thankfully, I had the good sense to block out her extreme power, and just took in her other abilities. I had only just recently learned how to do this, and it took immense concentration. The good thing was, that this distracted me enough that I didn’t notice Hank finish up with my stitches. The gash wasn’t big, but it was deep.  
“All done.” Hank said, patting me on the back. “Not so bad, eh?” I glared at him, still fighting the adrenaline and pain. “If don’t want this to happen again, just listen to me.” I didn’t respond, just continued to glare. Once I had calmed down, I released Jean, and hopped of the stool. I, reluctantly, thanked Hank for patching me up. He just gave me an amused, and still slightly suspicious, look and ruffled my hair once again. What was it with Scott and him messing with my hair?? With a scowl, I left with Jean. Instead of going back to class, she escorted me back to my room. Once safely inside, she grabbed my arm to hold me still.  
“I saw you fly like a bat outta hell out of Charles’s office when I was coming back from the bathroom. What happened?” Jean asked, searching my face with a concerned look. I felt my face drain of blood, and my throat closed. Sitting down on my bed, I cupped my head in my hands as what happened in that office played in my mind. I felt the slight tickle that accompanied Jean reading my thoughts, and I heard her gasp. The tears in my eyes threatened to spill over as I glanced up at her shocked expression.  
“I messed up pretty bad, didn’t I?” She sat on the bed beside me, and I buried my head into her shoulder.  
“Well, it’s going to be awkward…” She stammered, trying to sooth me. “but he didn’t seemed to mind it?” She offered, trying to help. It didn’t work. I shook and she rubbed my back, and we just sat like that for a bit.  
“I know this day has already been ruined, but you need to reset your powers.” Whimpering, I shook my head. “Don’t be idiotic, just find him and touch him long enough to reset.”  
“I can’t, it’s too embarrassing.”  
“You can’t just walk around with my abilities, you’ll break something.”  
“Fine.” I growled, getting up.  
“Good, I need to get this note to my teacher anyway.” Unable to stay mad at her, I gave her a quick hug, and we parted ways. I dragged my feet on the way to his office, hoping he wouldn’t be there. Of course, luck was not on my side, and he was waiting for me. My plan of grabbing his hand or arm then running was crushed.  
“Crystal?” I froze at his voice. “Please come in here, we need to...talk.” Staring unwavering at my feet, I shuffled into his office. I took my seat in front of his desk, and picked the paper weight from before up, taking comfort in in this normal action. Sitting there in silence, I felt his stare intense on my skin, but I refused to look at him.  
“Are you alright?” He asked softly, and I nodded slowly, focusing on the bit of metal in my hands. “That’s good, you left training in quite a hurry.” I dragged my eyes up to his face to see him smiling nervously, I glared at him. “Ok, I’d best not tease then.” Saying nothing, I went back to fiddling with the bit of metal. “Good God, give that here!” He grabbed at the weight, but ended up accidentally knocking it out of my hands in his rush. Instead of pulling back, he left his hand there, and I quickly grabbed it, desperate to get this over with. I gave a little gasp as the copied power flooded out of me, but the odd feeling returned, and I still didn’t mention it. Once the power was gone, I tried to let go, but Charles held on, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand. Unable to stop, a blush soon covered my face, and I looked away.  
“Crystal,” I heard a slight note of desperation in his voice. “Please look at me.” I hesitated, but glanced at him under my eyelashes. I watched his eyes dart around my face, analyzing my expression. I tried to look away again, but he lifted his hand to my cheek and I looked him in the eyes. He face softened and I felt the familiar buzz of him in my head.  
‘I’m sorry…’ I thought.  
‘What for?’  
‘...you know...kissing you…’  
‘Why on earth would you be sorry about that?’ I stared at him in disbelief.  
‘W-what?’  
‘Do you really think I didn’t enjoy it?’ I felt my face grow hot, and I gave a nervous giggle. He smiled sweetly at me, pressing the hand that he was still holding to his lips. I squeaked, and he smirked. I wanted either to smack or kiss that damned smirk off his face.  
‘I’d prefer the latter, if it’s all the same to you.’ Charles thought cheekily. I snorted and pressed my face into his hand with a happy smile. With that distraction, he didn’t notice me moving until I had my free hand tangled in his hair, kissing him hard. Shocked, it took him a moment to kiss back. We kissed passionately until we needed to breathe, then we spent more time just staring at each other. I had my own smirk at his surprised look.  
“So,” I croaked slightly, recovering from our kiss. “that was better than me smacking you, yeah?” He beamed, still breathless.  
“Much better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Author’s Note: Yeah, I moved things along quickly, but felt this was necessary. I have no shame.)


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“You made out with-” I slapped a hand over Jean’s mouth, hissing for her to be quiet. Jean, Scott, and I were sitting with each other outside, and I had told Jean about what had happened yesterday. After Charles and I’s training, I had gone to dinner in a state of pure, oblivious bliss. My friends had asked what was making me act this way, but I refused to answer. Jubilee thought I had snuck out, Kurt thought I had recently read an amazing book. He knows me so well. Jean didn’t say anything, since she probably knew why I was happy, and Scott thought I was on drugs. I was to happy at the time to get annoyed at him. After a good night's sleep, and psyching myself up, I had found the confidence to tell Jean and Scott about Charles and I’s kiss.  
“I didn’t make out with him…” I said rolling my eyes. Jean and Scott didn’t look convinced. I opened my mouth to try and defend myself, but I was cut off by Jubilee.  
“Did I just hear you say that our dear Miss Crys has made out with some boy?” She asked, her fingers sparkling slightly. “I knew you snuck out!” I rolled my eyes at her one track mind.  
“You know I’m not about that, J.” She smirked, and I had the strangest feeling that I had just messed up.  
“So, it’s someone here…?” With a happy little jig, she ran off, probably to ask everyone she knew if I had kissed them. I sighed, and took my hand off Jean’s mouth.  
“Sorry Jean, but now J’s gonna ask all the boys if I made out with them.” I said in a huff. “Did ya have to say that so loud?” Jean looked slightly sheepish, but wasn’t going to drop the previous subject.  
“Did you actually make out with Charles?” She asked again, quieter this time.  
“We didn’t make out, we just kissed.” I shrugged, my cheeks pink. Scott gave me a look.   
“If I may,” He said with fake politeness. “if that wasn’t making out, I don’t know what is.” My cheeks burned brighter.”   
“How the hell did you see us?” I asked, flustered. He shrugged.  
“I was going to check if you were ok, Jean told me you needed stitches, and the door was cracked. As soon as saw the two of you, I might have....ran away.” I snickered at that. I projected the image of Scott sobbing in Jean’s arms, blubbering about what he saw. Jean giggled, but Scott glared, his face red.  
“Aw,” Jean gave him a sweet pat on his cheek, then turned back to me with a mischievous grin. “I want to know all the details.” I blushed, but was glad I had a friend like her to talk about these things with. It was Saturday, and the three of us had time off. With an impish grin of my own, I led my two friends to my room for a gossip session. On the way, Scott grabbed a bag of popcorn he had bought a while ago, for us to snack on as we talked. Once we got cozy, I started at the beginning. I began with my now obvious crush on Charles, our bonding, and eventual kiss. Well, kisses. Jean squealed at a few places, and Scott chuckled at my grand escape. By the time we were done, it was time for lunch.  
Jubilee decided that lunch was a perfect time to play 20 questions with me. I answered a few, but gave up after the first five. What is his hair color? Brown. Is he tall. Eh… Is he a mutant? Yes. Is he hot? I just blushed.   
“Why do you not want to talk about him? Did he end up being a hoser?” I stopped talking to her at that point. After lunch, Charles was busy with something, so the gang and I hanged out in the library. We didn’t talk about the ‘thing’, just sat there and worked on some homework together. We had made good progress, but were interrupted, once again, by Jubilee. Her face was pink with frustration, and she glared at me with her hands on her hips. Behind her, there was a glint of metal, but I ignored it. She leaned down, her nose almost touching mine.  
“I have asked almost everyone in this damn school who your mystery guy is, but no one knows, or won’t tell.” She squinted at me, and poked me in the chest. “Just tell me, who is he!” I gave her a fake innocent smile.  
“Who?” She shrieked in frustration, much too loud for a library. The librarian gave her a glare, but something stopped her from coming over.  
“Your freaking boyfriend, that’s who!” I laughed out loud at her anger contorted face. Steam practically was coming out of her ears, and I laughed even harder, a good, full body laugh. Unbeknownst to me, my friends, who were snickering quietly beside me, quickly shut up. I had my eyes closed, and didn’t see the man beside Jubilee.  
“Miss Crystal has a boyfriend? I wasn’t informed.” Charles said jokingly. My eyes shooting open, I choked. He chuckled, and my face turned bright red. Giving each other a knowing look, Jean and Scott got up and sat with Kurt. Jubilee looked at Charles and I with a shocked expression. I looked her in the eyes, my face still red, and mentally told her to go sit with the others. Thankfully, she did as I bid her, and sat with our friends.  
“Er, hi Charles.” I greeted him with a small smile. He smiled back and stretched out his hand.  
“Hello Crystal, now, it’s time for your training.” He said as he pulled me to my feet. That little bit of contact sent electric sparks over my skin. Not literally, thank goodness. I nodded, with a goofy smile. As I walked behind Charles, Kurt put two and two together. I saw him go ‘Oh!’. I giggled at his face, but didn’t see, at the time, his face pull into a frown. Luckily, no one, other than my friends, had been paying attention to our little, display. Me walking close to Charles was a normal occurrence by now.  
In his office, with the door closed, I took my familiar seat. Instead of just sitting there, or fussing over some papers, Charles held my hand, brushing his thumb over the back. We had our normal discussion, how was each other’s days, and what we would do today.  
“I was thinking, my dear,” My heart fluttered at this pet name. “that we could spend most of our time on genetics, since we were too...preoccupied last time.” His cheeks turned a light pink as he said this. I nodded in agreement. With an impish grin, Charles pulled out a piece of paper covered with questions. This lesson soon became my favorite, as each time I got a question right, he would press a kiss to my hand. At the end, I was beaming, and bright red.  
“Now what, Charles?” I asked excitedly, bouncing on my seat. He smiled at my childishness, and pressed his free hand to his temple.  
‘I believe since we’ve become, closer, we should spend some time inside each other’s heads. Is that alright?’ He asked telepathically. I nodded, and felt his light buzz grow louder. I closed my eyes, and watched as different memories of mine play behind my eyelids. Certain ones caused waves of joy to rush off him. The ones he enjoyed the most were my childhood ones, and a few recent ones. They were all times where I was truly myself, being with my old friends, playing with my parents, and one where I was just reading one of my favorite books. I heard him laugh sweetly when he heard my thoughts when I had first saw him in person.  
‘If I had known what you thought then, this would have happened sooner.’ He mused, still scanning through my head. After a few more memories, I cut him off.  
‘It’s my turn.’ I smirked at his surprised look. He rolled his eyes humorously, but let me put my hand on his cheek. My excuse for this was it would help me focus, but that was an obvious lie. I slowly immersed myself into his mind, and was hit with a huge wave of memories. When he first met Raven, when he graduated from Oxford, when he met me. I blushed at the sheer amount of feeling associated with this one, but I was soon drawn to another. This memory was so strong, I found myself not just viewing it, I found myself reliving it. I watched as I wrestled a man to the ground, and when we stopped fighting for a bit, arguing over this Erik trying to kill human soldiers, a woman started shooting at him. I watched in horror as he deflected each one, and cried out as  one of the bullets pierced my back. I cut the connection, sobbing. Charles pulled me up and around the desk, into his lap. I hugged him tightly around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. As I cried I kept repeating how sorry I was that he had gotten so hurt, and how I wasn’t going to ever let anything like that happen again. He hushed me, and ran his hands through my hair, comforting me. He murmured in my ear how sorry he was that I had seen that, and that he was ok now. I slowly stopped crying, but still held onto him, hiccupping. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain.  
The sun had gone down by the time I got out of his lap. After brushing the tears from my cheeks and giving me a sweet, chaste kiss, Charles told me to go to dinner. I was still in a emotional daze as I sat with my friends. I tried not to show my emotions, and passed my red eyes off as allergies. Everyone but Kurt seemed to believe me. He kept giving me concerned glances, and when Jubilee was teasing me about being with Charles (I wasn’t exactly sure what we were), a strange look would come over his face. He looked almost, agitated? Perhaps...jealous? I pushed this from my mind when dinner was over, and the gang decided that we would hang out in Jean’s room. She had the largest room out of all of us. We sat there and chatted, and I slowly felt better. I was leaning against Kurt, who had an odd purple look to his cheeks, when I dozed off. My dreams weren’t pleasant, and I was plagued with watching Charles get shot over and over. I felt someone shaking me, and I opened my eyes with a gasp. All around me, small things in Jean’s room were floating in the air. I freaked out even harder, and the objects began to fly about.  
“Crystal!” Jean shouted as she ducked a book. Her fearful voice pulled me from my panic, and the stuff fell. Looking around the destroyed room, my heart raced.  
“I-I’m so, so sorry!” I stammered, waiting for Jean to get angry. To my surprise, she didn’t. Instead, she looked concerned.  
“It’s ok Crystal, but we should get Charles and Hank.” I nodded and projected to the two men.  
‘Please come to Jean’s room, something’s...come up.’ I didn’t dare say anything else. I glanced over to my friends. Jubilee and Kurt looked a bit scared, but a quick peek in their minds showed they were scared for me, not of me. Scott’s face was unreadable as he helped Jean clean up, but I felt confusion and concern radiate off him. They were done by the time Hank and Charles rushed into the room. They looked surprised at the lack of anything ruined, or anyone hurt. The two of them looked to me for answers. I gulped.  
“What happened, Crystal?” Charles asked softly, his face gentle.  
“It’s hard to explain…” I said nervously.  
“Try.” Hank said encouragingly.  
“Well, I had fallen asleep, had a nightmare, then when I woke up, I was levitating stuff.” I rambled quickly. The two men gave each other a look, then turned back to us.  
“Well,” Charles said a bit shocked. “this is quite, interesting, but I believe it is time for you kids to go to bed. And Jean,” He looked intensely at her. “please keep an eye on Crystal for me.”  
“Of course Professor.” She nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder. Charles smiled softly, and with one last concerned look, left with Hank. J, Scott, and Kurt all filed out, whispering good night. I stayed where I was, shock overcoming me. I had finally came to terms with my mutation, and it had flung a curveball at me. Jean brought me to as she kneeled next to me.  
“Are you ok?” I nodded slowly, and she sighed in relief. “That’s good. Now, do you want to go back to your room, or do you want to stay with me?” I didn’t want to be alone now.  
“Stay...” I whispered, and she nodded. It wasn’t the first time we had slept in each other’s rooms. Whenever either of us had a nightmare, the other was there to comfort them. I went to my room and quickly changed into pajamas. When I came back, Jean had changed too, and we crawled into her bed. I felt like a little kid again, having a sleepover with my bestfriend. Now, though, instead of just being there to hang out, I needed her comfort. I curled into her side, and she rubbed my shoulder. She was my closest friend, and we knew exactly how to calm each other down. Relaxed at last, I fell into a deep, thankfully dreamless, sleep.  
When we woke up, I gave her a hug, then popped into my room to shower and change. At breakfast, Charles sent me a quick brain memo, that I didn’t need to go to any of my classes, and when I was done eating, to go to the lab. The others didn’t talk about last night, but Kurt kept looking at me.  
“Bye guys.” I called after breakfast, getting up to go to the lab.  
“Where are you going?” Storm asked. She had been sick when the whole Charles and now telekinesis thing went down, so she had been confused about our silence all morning.  
“I have to go to the lab…” She looked even more confused. “Jean will explain.” She nodded and I left. As I was walking to Hank’s lab, my nerves slowly rising. What was wrong with my mutation, had something happened? Was this just an ability that hadn’t kicked in before? I was met with grim faces as I came in. The two had been talking before I came in, and Hank motioned for me to sit. I sat in a chair next to Charles, he held my hand as Hank pulled up a chair of his own.  
“Crystal, I know this may be a bit overwhelming, but we believe your mutation has...mutated.” I let out a short snort, expecting Hank to smile and say he was joking. He didn’t he looked completely serious.  
“Wait,” I sputtered. “you’re serious right now?!” He nodded, and I clasped my other hand over my mouth. Charles squeezed my hand reassuringly.  
“It’s only a small change, but we now think that instead of copying someone’s mutation, then either resetting with me, or borrowing someone else’s, you just retain some of their abilities.” I breathed a small gasp. Well, it explained the odd feeling and last night’s episode. “We believe that since you have been training your mutation for a while now, it has strengthened enough to retain the abilities.” Hank talked a few other theories, but I wasn’t fully present. When I could leave, I spent my time until lunch with Charles, figuring out this new change. His calming words assured me everything was going to be alright, and I believed him. And it was alright, for a while…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Author’s Note: Like I said before, I move quick. For the next few chapters, prepare for quickness and feels.)


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The next few months passed without a hitch. I learned how to control and work with this new ability. After my 20th birthday, which was lovely, I had finished my education at the school. I didn’t want to leave, so I joined the X-men, and even became a teacher. I taught a real genetics class, and helped my students train their mutations. Back to my birthday, my friends threw a small party, and Charles gave me a few gifts, including a necklace with his X symbol in metal. This made me finally realize what my code name should be. Ms. X. Charles went all red when I told him, and the girls squeed. Two months later, April, we celebrated Charles’s 53rd birthday. Yeah, we had quite an age gap, but I was such an old soul, though I didn’t always act like it, it was fine. Or so I thought…  
Soon a year passed, and I was finally 21. With my mutation, I had copied almost every gift, and no longer really thought about people’s mutations. I only thought about them when we were training. Even though I was even more powerful now, I didn’t let it get to my head. I knew how to use most of the gifts, and I could pick and choose which ones I wanted to use. The more gifts I had, activated, the faster I got tired out. None of these things were on my mind this morning. I was excited, because Charles had been acting mysterious for a while, and whenever he gets like that, he has a surprise for me. I hopped out of bed, and quickly got ready. Thankfully, today was a weekend, so I didn’t have a class to teach. I walked to the foyer, smiling at all the kids that wished me happy birthday.  
I wasn’t the only one of my friends to join the staff at the mansion. Jean is a doctor and teaches anatomy lessons, along with being a part of the X-men. Scott is a full member of the X-men, and his code name is Cyclops. Kurt and Jubilee also joined the X-men. Earlier this week, Kurt had confessed his crush on me. I felt bad that I had to reject him, but I only had feelings for Charles, and only see Kurt as a close friend. I went about my day, just chilling with my friends, and playing and training with my students. Though I was constantly looking for him, I hadn’t seen Charles all day. I had tried to read his thoughts to find out what he was up to, but he blocked me out. That hurt, but I just brushed it off as him wanting to surprise me. When it got dark, I went into the dining room and found my main students and my friends holding a cake in the shape of a X. That caused a little pang in my heart. I brushed it off, and smiled as they sang Happy Birthday. As we ate cake and ice cream, I felt Charles’s presence in my mind. I reached out for him, but he left my mind before I could. The previously delicious cake tasted like cement in my mouth. My heart was heavy, and I was starting to get worried about him. As I cleaned up my plate, Jean pulled me close and spoke quietly to me.  
“After all the young ones go to bed, us adults are going to take you to your first bar.” I gave her a fake grin, and she beamed. On my other side, Scott gave a hearty pat on the back, and told me I was getting old. I’ll admit, I slapped him around a bit. Though they were a bit older than me, my friends made me feel like a young teen again. So did someone else… Once it was almost time for us to go, I got fed up with Charles ignoring me. I stomped to his office, but he wasn’t there. I snarled a few choice swear words under my breath, and felt for his presence. He wasn’t using his power to hide from me in here, but I could feel where he was. I turned on Kurt’s teleportation, and teleported right in front of him, absolutely livid. He flinched in shock, then his face went stony.  
“Oh, Crystal, we need to...talk.” He put down the book he was holding, turning away from me. I growled at him.  
“Don’t ‘Oh Crystal’ me, Charles! What the hell do you have to say for yourself?!” I stomped my foot, and teleported so I was in front of him again. Looking closely, I saw that his eyes were red, and he was holding back tears. I felt my anger drain away slightly.   
“Crystal, we need to end this.” His voice cracked, and my jaw dropped in shock.  
“What? Why!?” I asked, fear filling my very being. Was Charles sick, or in danger? Was he just trying to protect me? Did I...do something wrong? He took a deep breath, his expression growing cold again.  
“You’re barely 20 Crystal, I’m 50.” I scoffed.  
“You know that doesn’t matter to me!” He growled in frustration, glaring.  
“You don’t get it do you! I’m halfway through my life, and yours has just begun!” As my heart began to break, I grew angrier.  
“I’m not a goddamn child, Charles! I know what I’m getting into!” He laughed bitterly, and turned back to his table and grabbed a bottle of scotch. He ignored me as he poured a glass.  
“Look at me you utter bastard!” I screamed at him, tears pooling in my eyes. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes dead.  
“This could never work.” I held back a frustrated roar.  
“What!? What was the past YEAR been other than, this, working?!” He slammed the glass down, a fire burning behind his now lifeless eyes.  
“I don’t care what delusions you’ve been having about us! There will be no white picket fence, and a couple kids and a dog! Those years are way behind me!” He yelled, going right up to me. I almost slapped him.  
“I knew that was never an option Charles. I just thought you loved me…” I whimpered. He looked sad for a moment, but it was soon replaced by bitterness.  
“You thought wrong.” I stepped back, my heart finally breaking, and my tears were threatening to spill over. I took a deep, ragged breath, then slapped him and drank his damn scotch.  
“Guess what you forgot today was, asshole.” I smashed the glass on the floor, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind me. Once it was closed, I started to cry. Inside, I heard Charles breaking things in his room, then...quiet. I could vaguely hear soft sobs. Unable to bear being anywhere near him. I ran down the hall, tears streaming down my face. I ran all the way to my room. Inside, I pulled his books off the shelf, and slammed them on the ground. He had bought me special copies for my last birthday, and I couldn’t stand to see them. Exhausted, I fell onto my bed, and clutched my pillow to my face. I was shaking, unable to stop crying, my chest and throat burning. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest. I had given my young heart to Charles, and he stomped all over it. No, he didn’t just break my heart. He broke it on my freaking birthday. I stayed where I was for what seemed to be an eternity, before I heard a knock on my door.  
“Crystal? We’re ready to go!” I heard Jean’s happy voice, and I knew I couldn’t ruin this for everyone. It seemed no one had heard Charles and I.  
“Give me a sec Jean, I’m getting ready.” I winced at the croak in my voice, but she didn’t seem to notice. With the sound of her footsteps fading away, I rolled out of bed. As I walked into my bathroom, I spotted myself in the mirror. I flinched, I looked horrible. My green eyes were bright red, and my cheeks were tear stained. Not to mention, my bronze hair was sticking to my face. Sighing, I used Raven’s ability to change my appearance. I made my eyes clear up and have a happy twinkle I may never have again. I made my hair look decent, and made my cheeks rosy. With one last look, I made the corners of my mouth slightly turned up. I couldn’t even make myself smile on my own. Looking good enough, I changed into a leather jacket with a gray tee, and a pair of jeans.  
Stepping out, I quickly went outside to wait for my friends. Outside, I noticed a little girl sitting on the bottom step. I walked over to her, she looked too young to be out here at this hour.  
“Lilly? You need to go inside, hun.” She looked up at me, startled. Then she looked bashful.   
“Sorry Ms. Manner, I just wanted to see the stars.” My heart lightened a little at her childish innocence.  
“Alright Lil, but you need to go inside now, ‘kay?” She nodded and got up. “Goodnight.” I stiffened as she hugged me, but I slowly wrapped my arms around her. This is why I love kids, they always seem to know how to make you feel better. Strangely, I felt her power wash over me. I could have sworn I had copied her mutation at some point, I couldn’t remember what it was. Maybe something to do with, time? I don’t know, but I made sure that she got in, and went to her room. Man, this is going to be a hard night.  
When we reached the bar, most of my friends headed to the dance floor. I smiled a bit when I saw Kurt dancing with Storm. As it was my birthday, Jean and Scott went to the bar to order me some birthday drinks. I tried to sound happy, and drank all the drinks they brought me. Thankfully, they weren’t that alcoholic, or I would be completely drunk by now. I stayed at my table, sipping one of the strange concoctions. Keeping my head down and looking in my glass, I heard the chair scrape beside me. Glancing up, I saw it was Raven. She looked concerned, as well as slightly amused.  
“I can see that you’re using my mutation right now.” I hummed in my own amusement, of course she would notice it. “What’s with that, kid?” Biting my lip, I contemplated telling her what was ailing me. We had grown closer as of late, and I decided I needed someone to vent to. Since this was a safe bar for mutants, I just shut off the mutation. Raven winced at my despair ridden face, and gently squeezed my shoulder.  
“What happened?” Choking back a sob, I told her everything. Maybe I was a bit drunk… By the end she was both empathetic and enraged. She asked if I wanted her to beat him up for me, but I begged her not to. I didn’t want her to fight him because of me. She left me alone after that, and I finished my drink. Not wanting to ruin the night, I sent all of them a telepathic message that I was really feeling my drinks, and that I should head back. They didn’t seem to mind, though Jean made sure I was ok, and kept on partying. Hank was paying, so I just grabbed my jacket and left. I teleported to my room, and I knew I couldn’t stay, so I got my stuff together. A light buzz in the back of my head made me freeze.  
‘Crystal, I know what you’re doing, please, stop.’ Though it pained me, I kept packing my things and ignored Charles. I shouldered my duffle bag, and walked out my door.  
‘Crystal, don’t do this.’ I closed my door and kept walking. ‘Crystal, please!’ He started sounding desperate.   
‘Crystal, I’m so sorry...I didn’t mean it!’ Tears filled my eyes, but I walked out the front door. ‘Crystal, your students need you! Jean, Scott, and the rest, they need you too!’ The night air chilled me as I sat on the step, starting to cry again. I buried my head in my hands, deciding where I could go. Not back to my parents, they’d worry too much, and Dad would raise hell. A place I had only been once, but fell in love with, came to mind.  
‘Please don’t go...I need you.’ I took a deep breath, and concentrated on where I wanted to be.  
‘Crystal, no!’  
‘Goodbye Charles.’ I felt a rush of power, then I was stumbling in the middle of an alley. That was good, for once. No one would’ve seen me. Breathing a sigh of relief, I started to get woozy. The drinks and the strain of using so much effort to get here zapped my energy. Barely able to stand, I stumbled into the nearest hotel, and booked a room. Exhausted, I fell into a deep sleep. My dreams were strange, I felt like I was dropping down a deep hole, then nothing.  
When I woke up, something felt off. The room I was in looked, different, but I credited it to me being tired and drunk. Speaking of which, I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. As I puked, I realized something. I was having my first hangover...it sucked. My head pounded as I brushed my teeth, trying to rid my mouth of the taste of bile. As I took a quick shower, I tried to remember last night. The pain in my chest was all but gone, just a slight ache. It was probably being so far away that stopped my heartache...or the amount of drinks I had. Feeling better, I threw on some clothes and left the hotel. The cold February air felt good on my skin. I took a deep breath, feeling a sense of calm rush over me. This place really did the trick, Charles was the last thing on my mind. Charles…. I shook those thoughts off and started down the street. Oxford was beautiful, just like it had been when I came here 10 years ago. Well, not just like it… Though it may seem strange, the whole place looked, newer? It wasn’t like they redid the paint or the streets, or something like that. It just seemed, well, newer. I couldn’t explain it any other way. My stomach growled, and I stopped thinking about it. I popped into the nearest cafe for some breakfast. I smiled at the man behind the counter.  
“Good morning, Miss.”  
“Good morning!” I glanced up at the menu. “I’ll have a cup of coffee and an omelette.” He nodded, then told the guy in the kitchen. “Hey, if you don’t mind, what time is it?” He glanced down at his watch.  
“Nearly 11:30.” I thanked him, then sat at one of the tables. Beside me, there was a rack of newspapers. ‘Well, this might answer some things,’ I mused. The headlines were a bit odd, but the cafe seemed to have a 50s or 60s theme, so it was probably a joke. Then I looked at the date. February 15, 1962, either this cafe was playing a joke, or I had just gone back in time 24 years. My face went white.  
“Hey, is this paper recent?” I called to the man, and he nodded. I almost fainted. So I guess this is what Lilly’s mutation was, she could travel through time. But how on Earth had I gone back this far? How exactly does time travel work? I should have asked Lilly more questions when I could. I tried not to look like I was having a crisis when the man brought me my breakfast. I ate quickly, but soon realized I had no English currency. Fail. When he came back with the check, I gave him a sheepish look.  
“Um, how much is this in US dollars? It’s all I have on me.” Thankfully, he was a nice man, and had me sorted out in a jiffy. ‘I need to go to a bank,’ I thought bitterly to myself. This is what happens when you spontaneously go to another country. I left, and popped into the nearest bank, and with not too much fuss, exchanged my American money for pounds. By the time I was done, it was around 3:00 and my headache was returning. I went back to the hotel, ordered a cup of tea off the hotel service menu, and looked up a pizza place in the phone book. I ordered a pizza, and read one of the books I had packed. Once my tea and pizza arrived, I was set for the afternoon. When evening came, I needed a beer. Yes, I’m barely 21 and I’m an alcoholic. Using one of my many abilities, I altered my ID to fit the year. I wasn’t going to go around sporting a card that said I was from the future. As I was leaving, I did some messing around with the hotels bookkeeping to make sure they knew I was here, and I paid again for a few nights. The guy that manned the lobby had gone on a bathroom break.   
When I got to the bar, which was surprisingly near the university’s campus, they didn’t even check my ID. The bar was full of college kids. ‘I’m acting way older than I am, I’m about college kid age’ I mused. I took a seat at the bar, and ordered a beer. As I sipped it, there was a man drinking a giant, long, glass container of some sort of alcohol. He chugged it rather quickly, and let out a triumphant yell at the end. I snorted and turned back. I felt a slight buzz at the back of my mind, but it was over quickly, so I blamed it on the beer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man start to go over to a blonde, then was stopped by a woman with auburn hair, rather like mine, but darker. The pair sat at a table, and the blonde he was going to talk to, who was wearing a lovely red dress, frowned and left. I snorted again, and ordered another beer. I had forgotten about the man, until he was standing right behind me. The other lady was nowhere to be seen. Looking at his reflection in my glass, he looked a bit drunk, but less than he had before.  
“Heterochromia.” I smirked, a genetics kid.  
“Excuse me?” I asked, pretending not to know what it meant. As I turned, I was met with startlingly, familiar blue eyes. He had a smirk of his own.  
“Your eyes, the main part of the iris is forest green,” He leaned in slightly. “but the area around your pupil is aquamarine. It’s a mutation.” He looked so proud of himself, I almost felt bad for shutting him down a bit.  
“Oh? I just thought of it as my eye color.” I teased, taking a sip of my second beer. He raised an eyebrow.  
“You mustn't knock it, it’s a very groovy mutation.” I rolled my eyes. “Did you know that mutation took us from single-celled organisms-” I cut him off, knowing by now exactly who he is.  
“I’ve got a sense you’ve used this line before, so let me stop you there.” I finished my beer and paid my tab. “You won’t be getting in my pants, professor.” I gave him a sweet smile then hopped off the bar stool. Curse these things for being so tall. As I walked out of the bar, and looked over my shoulder, I shot the confused man an amused look.  
“It was nice to meet you,” I smirked, but my heart ached, just slightly. “Charles Xavier.” I winked at him as he stared at me in shock.  
‘That’s my real mutation, professor.’


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the next few chapters are an altered version of First Class. This will be the first of the sets of chapters that are based on the movies. Once again, I do not own the X Men, and I never will. I only do this for fun and working on my writing skill, not profit.

Chapter Six

I spent a few more months in Oxford, trying to figure out how to return to my time. I tried to feel Lilly’s mutation among my arsenal, but I just couldn’t. I gave up on trying to do it alone, and felt for the young Charles’s presence. It was very faint, but I could feel it. I teleported myself near by, which wasn’t very smart and took a lot out of me, and I found myself back in the States. It was a large facility, and wasn’t that aesthetically pleasing. I was right beside a huge, round, metal sphere, rather like a satellite. It was dark, and I heard people laughing. Then the window broke, and I held back a scream. All the sudden, an acid ball flew out the window onto a statue’s head. Now, this was interesting. I made sure no one inside could see me, then I waited. A blond boy stepped out the now glass-less window, and tell the others to get back. I smirked, then gasped as huge, red circles of energy fired out of the boy’s torso. One of the energy beams cut the statue in half. I was glad I had hidden myself in a corner, or I would have gotten hit. I stood there, panting as the kids cheered. The kids went back inside, and I stepped away from the walls, shaking my head with a laugh. I stopped as Charles ran up with a woman and a man, and the woman gasped.  
“Who destroyed the statue?!” She yelled, and they all pointed to the blond boy. Charles and the woman gave them disapproving looks, and the man seemed to find it funny. There was a ginger boy, a brunette girl, an African American boy, and the blond boy from before. I was shocked to recognize the young Raven and young Hank. Raven looked very similar to her future self, but Hank looked so baby-faced. The kids all looked ashamed, and Charles gave them a disappointed glare.  
“I was expecting more from you.” He turned, and nearly ran into me. “Hey! Who-, oh, it’s you!” Charles looked shocked. I waved. The other adults came over, confused.  
“Who is this Charles?” The woman I know recognized as the lady from the bar asked him. He smiled at her, and shrugged.  
“A mutant friend of mine.” I shook her and the other man’s hands. The woman was human, but the man was a mutant. I felt his power rush over me, and it was immense. Since I had to get close to shake his hand, I got a good look at his face, and recognized him as the man from the older Charles’s memory. Erik. A light shiver ran down my spine, and I almost strangled him then and there. Though I desperately wanted to, I refrained from doing so. The man hadn’t done anything yet, and if I had my way… I heard the lady cough, and Charles told me they had a plane to catch, and that we would talk soon. As they left, the kids led me to the man who was running this department.  
“So, you came here to join our little, group?” The man asked, sitting back in a chair. He was rather fat, and was wearing a suit. I nodded.  
“I could sense Charles was looking for mutants, so I thought, why not?” I smiled at the kids. My eyes lingered on Hank and Raven. I was filled with pure joy at the sight of them. The kids were still miffed about being told off by Charles and the woman, who I now know as Moira. When the man dismissed them, they went back to their room, and I kept talking to the suited man.   
A few minutes later, there was a strange whooshing noise, and the other man beside me was suddenly teleported away by a devil looking man. The suited man followed soon after, and I screamed. I looked out the window as he was dropped from the sky. I heard Raven scream, and I snapped out of my shock, needing to protect the kids. I ran to their room. As I was running, the devil man teleported more people, and I could hear their bodies hitting the roof. Once I was there, I watched some men try and shoot the devil man. The kids ducked behind the couches as the men fought the mutant, and another mutant was producing tornadoes. I swore under my breath, and tried to figure out a plan. I was distracted as I felt the presence of another, stronger mutant, but his mind was blocked from me.  
While I was probing at the mutant’s mind, the kids ran out of the room, trying to help the guards. I shouted for them to stop, but the men stopped them before I did. The stronger mutant caused huge explosions around us, and I shoved the kids back as we watched the men disintegrate. We went back to the room, but we weren’t safe there either. There was a tornado coming towards us, and we had nowhere to go. After killing more men, the teleporting and tornado making mutants stepped inside the broken windows, and a human told the strong mutant where to go. He was quickly killed, and the mutant walked in. He asked about Charles, and took his helmet off when we said he wasn’t here. That was what was blocking me, and I held back my sheer terror at his thoughts. He was trying to bring on World War Three, and when all but a few humans were left, he would rule a world of mutants.  
He introduced himself as Sebastian Shaw, and the kids looked startled. I quick peek in Raven’s mind showed that he was the man they were looking for. With a long speech about mutants being the better race, he tried to get us to join his cause. None of us dared move, until Angel gave in, and went to his side. We all exclaimed our disbelief, but none of us made a move to stop her. The new group walked back through the window, and stood in a line.   
“Wait.” They paused as the boy called Darwin shoved the blond, Havok. A quick pop in his mind, showed that he had a plan to stop Shaw and his mutants from taking Angel. He pretended to join them, and I got out of the way as he called for Havok to do his thing. It almost worked, but Shaw absorbed the energy beams. In that moment, what shocked me most in that moment, was how similar to Scott the boy was. With the absorbed energy, Shaw made a small, glowing ball. We watched in horror as he placed the energy ball into Darwin’s mouth, and I cried out as he turned to stone. Shaw left with his people and Angel, as Darwin crumbled.   
I felt numb as I stared at his remnants. How had I not known about this, if I had, I could have stopped this. I feel to my knees as the reality of this finally hit me, with the sobs of the kids pulling me from my trance. Needing to do something, I rose to my feet and healed the kids. With them cleaned up, I made sure we were safe, and we waited for the others to come back.  
We sat outside the destroyed facility as Charles and the others came back. As soon as they saw each other, he and Raven pulled each other into a tight hug. When they let go of each other, he looked us over.  
“We’ve made arrangements for you all to be taken home, immediately.” Havok beat me to disagreeing. I just sat there as they argued, unable to comprehend what had just happened.   
“We can avenge him.” Erik said, and I jumped at suddenly hearing his voice. Charles gave him a stern look.  
“Erik, a word please.” They muttered to each other for a bit, Charles disagreeing with almost everything Erik was saying. After a bit of convincing, Charles turned back, sizing us up.  
“We’ll have to train.” He announced. “All of us. Yes?” We all nodded.  
“We can’t stay here.” Hank said. “Even if we reopen the department, we aren’t safe. We’ve got nowhere to go.” Charles stared dramatically into the distance.  
“Yes we do.”  
I beamed, looking around. It was the mansion. It wasn’t exactly like I had last saw it, but it still felt like home. Raven took all of us on a tour. As we walked the halls, I tried not to linger on the hall that my room would be on. A few days after, I found myself sitting on a small hill on the grounds, under the shade of a tree. We had settled down, and got ourselves into a rhythm. I was watching Erik and Charles train. Erik had asked Charles to shoot him, point blank. As I knew he would, Charles inevitably refused. They talked for a bit, and I remembered what had happened these past few days.  
Everyone had been training hard, except me. I knew I was in almost perfect control over my abilities, and to Charles, I was just a telepath, like him. I remembered Alex’s stunt in the bunker and Sean’s training. He had shattered a huge window, and they found a way to get him to fly (Erik may or may not have shoved him off the nearby satellite). I chuckled a bit as I remembered all the grey hoodies they were wearing. They looked like utter dorks.  
Back to the present, Charles was getting Erik to try and turn the satellite. I sat up a bit, interested if he could actually do it. He failed, but Charles wasn’t convinced that he truly couldn’t.  
“You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity.” He waggled his fingers by his head. “Mind?” Erik shook his head. Intrigued, I went into Charles’s mind to see what he was looking for in Erik. It was his happiest memory, one of him and his mother at Hanukkah. Once it was over, he shed a tear, and so did Charles. I almost did too, but I had cried enough lately. Charles told Erik that he knew there was good in him, and with the power of all his emotions, good and bad, he turned the satellite. The boys started laughing, but were cut off by Moira. The president was making an address. In the TV room, we listened to him. The United States would go to war with Russia if a ship containing nuclear missiles crossed a certain line. That’s where Shaw would be.  
I had brewed myself a cup of tea, and was heading to the room I was staying in when I saw Hank angrily leave Raven’s room with a syringe in his hand. ‘Trouble in paradise?’ I mused. I looked into his mind, and found out it was a ‘cure’ to make him look human. That made me sad, but I knew there was nothing to be done. Even if I tried to stop him, he would just go on with it anyway. I knew this was how he turned blue, and I knew this was a great lesson for him, so I let him go. Unable to sleep now, I went to the library. There Charles and Erik were playing chess and talking, they didn’t seem to notice me. I perched myself on one of the couches, and pretended to be very interested in my cup of tea as I eavesdropped their conversation. They talked about the coming fight, and Erik told Charles he was going to kill Shaw.  
“Listen to me carefully my friend, killing Shaw will not bring you peace.” Erik gave Charles a dark look.  
“Peace was never an option.” Erik got up and left before they could even finish the game. Charles sighed and rubbed his face.  
“I tried, didn’t I?” I glanced up from my tea, and found him looking at me. He seemed so sad and regretful. I nodded.  
“You did what you could Charles, the only way you could do more is if you physically took him over if he tried.” I sat up and put my tea and saucer on the table. Charles sighed again, and got up. I cocked my head as he sat next to me. He stared at me as he leaned on the side of the couch.  
“I know almost nothing about you because of your mental walls, I don’t even know your name.” I smiled at him, amused, and reached my hand out.  
“I’m Crystal Manner.” It was kind of odd that Charles didn’t even know my name. We had sort of danced around each other, only speaking in passing. I had formally introduced myself to the kids, but not to Charles or Erik. Or Moira for that matter. Charles shook my hand, feeling the slight electricity like he and I had in the future, making my heart ache, as well as race.  
“It’s lovely to properly meet you, Miss Crystal.” I blushed at his charming smile, and our hands lingered, just a bit. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you just a telepath? Or can you do other things?” I bit my lip, not sure if I should tell him. I decided to tell a slight lie.  
“I have telekinesis as well.” Charles looked mildly impressed.  
“Is it just one type of thing, or…?” He raised an eyebrow. I smirked.  
“Nope, I can manipulate almost anything.”  
“Oh, really?” He smirked back. I smiled wickedly at him. Concentrating on the couch beneath us, I started to levitate it. Charles laughed as we started to rise. I smiled sadly, remembering all the times he had laughed that same musical laugh. I slowly put us down, and Charles beamed at me, his eyes dancing in the light.  
“That was spectacular!” I went even redder, and I had a shy smile on my face. We spent around an hour just talking, nothing too personal, just some interests of ours. Too soon, I found myself yawning. With a slightly sad look, Charles smiled and patted my knee.  
“I suppose we should go to bed.” I nodded, but hesitated to get up. With a mischievous grin, I grabbed my tea, and placed a peck on Charles’s cheek.  
“Good night Charles.” I said sweetly as I left.  
“Good night Crystal.” He breathed, his cheeks red as he touched where I kissed him. After putting my cup back in the kitchen, I went to my room, and to bed. My dreams were filled with beautiful blue eyes and a smooth British voice. I’m so screwed.  
The next morning, when we went to get Hank, we found his lab in a mess. I looked over to Raven, who was currently very blue, but she didn’t reveal anything. It was utterly destroyed, but there was a box in the far back marked with a X. It was full of full body suits. Alex wasn’t impressed (Neither was I, but I didn’t show it. The suits in the future were way better.), but we put them on anyway. They all matched, yellow and black. I was red in the face as we went to the airbase. It was darn near skin tight, and though I was in good shape, I hated these kinds of things. Jean would be way more comfortable in these. We waited in the airbase, but without Hank we couldn’t go anywhere. In fact, I hadn’t seen him all day.  
“Where is Hank?” Raven asked, looking around.  
“I’m here.” We all turned, and saw someone who was blue and furry walking towards us. I felt a gasp rise up in my throat, but I held it back. He told us that the ‘cure’ I had seen last night was supposed to attack the mutant cells, didn’t. It enhanced them. He looked so sad, put Raven gave him a sort of pep talk, and his mood seemed to lighten. He wasn’t ugly, he looked like a huge, blue teddy bear. I glanced at Erik, who kept looking at Hank with the oddest expression. It was almost if he was, checking him out? In fact, he has constantly been looking at Hank like that…  
“Never looked better man.” He said, and he patted Hank on the arm. I could sense this was a genuine compliment, but Hank didn’t. He grabbed Erik by the throat.  
“Hank!” Charles warned, and Hank growled.  
“Don’t mock me!” He snarled, then dropped Erik. Erik massaged his throat, looking slightly hurt. Not physically really, but emotionally.  
“I wasn’t.” Sensing the tension, Alex swooped in.  
“Even I got to admit, you look badass. I think I’ve got a new name for ya.” He smirked. “Beast.” Hank didn’t look amused.  
“Can you really fly this thing?” Sean asked, looking dubiously at the jet.  
“Of course I can.” Hank assured him. “I designed it.”  
I whimpered grabbing a hold of Charles’s arm as we flew over the ships. I hated heights, and flying was a necessary inconvenience when I thought I was human. I needed to fly now too, because they had no clue about my abilities. Charles smiled reassuringly, and patted my hand.  
“Looks pretty messy out there.” Hank warned. Looking to Erik and Hank for confirmation, Charles placed his fingers on his temple. My job was if Charles went down, I was to take his place, and move stuff around if necessary. They greatly underestimated me, but I was ok with that. Charles told us that the crew of the ship was dead, and Shaw was there. I stayed mentally connected with Charles, and watched him make the Russian fleet bomb the ship. The missile barely missed us, and Hank made the jet roll. Charles put his arm in front of Raven and I, holding us still. Even though we aren’t really friends in this time, I gripped her hand. Thankfully, she was too scared to mind. Charles’s plan to get the two countries from shooting at each other worked, but we still couldn’t find Shaw. If he wasn’t appearing on the scanner, he would be underwater.  
“And we don’t have sonar.” Hank murmured, annoyed. Sean swallowed, and looked up.  
“Yes we do.” I nearly snorted, but it was actually a brilliant plan.  
Charles got Hank to level the plane, and he, Erik, and Sean got ready. Remembering what happened last time, Sean waved Erik back.  
“You, back on off.” Erik smiled wide, and backed up with his hands raised. We were trying to avoid World War Three, and these guys were making jokes. They opened the bomb bay door, and Sean dropped out the plane, gliding into the water. He used his mutation, and got a location on Shaw. With a preconceived plan, Erik was standing on the wheels of the jet, feeling for the sub. Erik was having trouble at first, but eventually pulled the whole thing out of the water. Damn, he was much stronger than I thought. Hank sped us up, and the jet and sub headed to the land. On the sub, the tornado mutant sent a huge tornado our way, and the sub, along with our jet, got sucked up in it. It ripped one of our back wings off, but we got the sub to the beach. Charles barely pulled Erik in when we crashed. Using his abilities, Erik held himself and Charles down. Once we stopped, Erik got Raven and I down, Hank got Alex down, and Charles got Moira. I felt a small pang of jealousy. ‘Not now.’ I lectured myself. ‘We’re in the middle of a battle.’ Charles had found out was Shaw was planning. He sent Erik to stop what was blocking Charles, and sent Hank and Alex to back him up. Raven stayed to make sure nothing would come in the plane, though unwillingly, and Moira was talking to the fleets. With everyone doing something, I felt entirely useless.  
‘Charles.’  
‘Not now Crystal.’  
‘Let me help, let me do something.’  
‘You are, if I go down, you’re the only one who can take my place.’ I frowned at him.  
‘I need to do something to help now.’  
‘No.’ Ignoring him, I went to get out of the plane. With my mental link with Charles still in place, I heard him clearly.   
‘Raven, stop her from leaving.’ I glared at him, and Raven gave me a sympathetic look. I stood there with her, a little bit of rebellion, mentally trying to amplify Charles’s power. Our people were fighting Shaw’s. Alex made quick work of the tornado guy, Riptide was what he was called, and Beast helped him out with Azazel, the red teleporting guy. Erik got into the ship, and the disabled the nuclear reactor. Angel tried to fight Alex, but Sean came out of the water and stopped her. Erik found Shaw in his reactor room and stopped listening to Charles. He went into the mental void, and we lost communication with him. Getting away, Sean and Alex landed on the beach. Somehow, while that was going on, we reestablished a connection with Erik. His fight with Shaw was allowing us more access. With Charles occupied, Raven saw Hank in danger, and transformed into Shaw to distract Azazel. It worked. Back with the real Shaw, Erik had gotten his helmet off, and Charles could control him. I felt the mental strain it was putting on him, and I aided him. He shot me a thankful glance, then went back to looking at the sub. Instead of just leaving him, Erik put on the helmet blocking us out.  
“Damn.” I swore, focusing harder on Shaw, Moira stared at us in utter confusion. We watched as Erik used his ability to move a coin slowly towards Shaw. Charles begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen. He counted to three, and pressed the coin to Shaw’s head on three. Charles yelled as the pain from the coin going into his skull went to us. As I was only aiding, I barely felt it. Without meaning to, I disconnected, and watched in horror as Charles screamed. He fell to his knees as Shaw died, and I quickly ran to his side, helping him up. We got out of the jet as Erik floated Shaw’s body towards us. He was flying, and told us that our real enemy was the humans. He wasn’t entirely wrong, the fleets had guns pointing at us. Charles nodded for Moira to contact the fleets, but they wouldn’t respond. We watched in terror as the missiles barreled towards us, but Erik stopped them in time. I tried to reach out and help him, but something held me back. He turned the missiles back to the humans, and Charles tried to get him to stop.  
“They’re just following orders.” That was a bad thing to say to a holocaust victim.  
“I’ve been at the mercy of men just following orders.” He looked at Charles with the darkest look upon his face. “Never again.” He sent the missiles to the humans, and Charles tackled him. The memory the older Charles had shown me was happening, and I froze. They struggled on the beach, and the others went forward to stop him, but he sent them flying back. As I hadn’t moved, he ignored me, and went back to fighting Charles. Holding him down, Erik continued to send the missiles towards the ships, then punched him. He had almost gotten the missiles to the humans, before Moira started shooting at him. I unfroze as my instincts kicked in.  
“No!” I screamed as Charles stood. With two bullets left, I teleported to Charles. I pushed him down, but wasn’t entirely fast enough. Thankfully, the bullet cleared him, but it went right through my calf. The others looked on with horror, thinking it had hit Charles. Unbeknownst to them, all he had gotten was the wind knocked out of him. I moaned as I started to feel the pain in my leg. Erik turned to look at us as I rolled off Charles, clutching my calf. The good thing was it just went through the flesh of my calf, not the bone.  
“Crystal!” Charles gasped, rolling to look at me. “Crystal, where are you hurt!?” Even with the pain searing through my leg, I had enough composure to give him the really, look. With Charles ok, everyone rushed over to us.  
“I’m so sorry!” Moira exclaimed, and Erik turned and glared at her. I took one of my bloody hands off my leg and reached out to Erik. He looked at me, and I projected ‘It's ok’ to both of them. They nodded, and Charles pressed my hand back to help me put pressure on it as my vision started to go black. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I stared into his eyes. My last thought before I passed out was, ‘God I love those eyes.’  
When I woke up, I was in my room. I felt a bit woozy, probably from pain medication, and I looked down at my leg. I was wearing one of my pairs of soft shorts, a tee, and half my calf was covered in bandages. I tried to stand, but my leg wasn’t having it, so I sat there with my legs dangling off the bed. I looked out over the grounds, and spotted Charles and Moira, talking. I felt another pang of jealousy, but I didn’t fight this one, even though I knew it was stupid. My once healing heart started to break again as they kissed, but something was off. I leaned in a bit as I saw him put his fingers on his temple, and I reached into his thoughts. I gasped. He was erasing her memory of the school, and...Charles. I almost shouted with joy, but my empathy wouldn’t allow it, it hurt him to do this. I leaned back as Raven led a dazed Moira to a car. Raven! She stayed! I was confused, then I realized. If Charles didn’t reject Erik in Cuba, then Erik wouldn’t leave, and neither would Raven. I sensed for the presence of the team, and they were here. I also felt for Angel and Shaw’s other lackeys, but as I expected, they were gone. Good riddance.  
With my mental connection with Charles, which started to feel like second nature by now, I heard his voice in my head.  
‘Look who’s up.’ I looked down, and saw him smiling up at me. I waved and smiled back.  
‘Yep.’ With one last second of smile, he gave me a very stern look. His teacher look, I grinned.  
‘We’re going to talk about what happened.’ I un-grinned.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

“How on Earth did you get to me so fast?” Charles was seated on a chair beside my bed. I shifted uncomfortably, twiddling my thumbs. With a sigh, I decided to tell the truth, or at least most of it.  
“I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely honest with you, Charles.” I confessed. “To the best of your knowledge, I am just telekinetic and telepathic.” I looked to him for confirmation, and he nodded, intrigued. “That is a fib. I am able to use these abilities, but they aren’t my actual mutation.” He looked confused, and I tried to elaborate. “With my mutation, I’m able to copy the abilities of any mutant I have physical contact with. It could be as simple as a handshake or even a hug. After I copy an ability, I can pretty much decide whenever I want to use it. The actual process is quite hard to describe, so don’t ask me.” I took a deep breath, and waited for his reaction. His face was unreadable, completely blank, but I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. I refrained from using my telepathy, not wanting to make the situation worse. He raised an eyebrow as he pressed his hands to his mouth. I sat as still as a statue, fearing what he may say. With a shaky laugh, he brought his hands down. Surprisingly, instead of being angry for being lied to, or scared about what I could do, he just looked relieved.  
“I’ve been worried about what you have been blocking me from, I was scared it would be way worse than this.” I gaped at him, not expecting this at all. “What?”  
“You’re not angry at me?” He shrugged, a little smirk playing at his lips.  
“You never said that you could only do what you said, just that you could.” I laughed at his logic. Of course he would use that reasoning. There’s still another issue.  
“Are you...scared of me?” He cocked his head, eyebrows furrowed.  
“Why would I ever be scared of you?” I looked away, unable to meet his eyes.  
“Where I was before, many of the people there didn’t trust me. They thought I was too strong.” I winced, then stiffened when I felt him put his hand over mine.  
“You are much too sweet and kind for me to be scared of you.” Blood rushed to my cheeks, even in this time he knew exactly what to say to make me flushed.  
“Thanks.” I mumbled, smiling softly as I played with the hem of my shorts. “Enough about me, “ I said, changing the subject before this got me any more awkward. “How is everyone doing?” Charles shrugged again, looking a bit sad.  
“Erik has been confined to his room, and the rest are alright.” He didn’t say anything about his interaction with Moira, probably knowing I already knew. “Do you want to see them?” He asked, standing up. I nodded, and he tried to help me up, but my leg said otherwise. My legs buckled and I gasped as pain seared through my left calf. I clutched onto his shirt, trying to stay standing. I hissed, my leg throbbing.  
“Oh dear, let me help you!” My face turned bright red as Charles grabbed me around the waist, holding me up. “Don’t worry we will get you some crutches soon.” He shifted me over to his side and put his arm under mine, and I got the weight off my leg. After a few toes got stepped on, and things got knocked over, he gave up. I was expecting us to just stumble around a lot more, but Charles ended up being much stronger than I thought, and he picked me up. I shrieked as he scooped me up, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Laughing at my reaction, he ran down the hall. I buried my head into his shoulder, giggling. When we stumbled into the front room, everyone but Erik was there. They had just been sitting there talking until we had burst in.  
“Well then…” Raven raised her brows, then rolled her eyes at our childishness. My face grew even redder as the boys exchanged amused comments.  
“Um, hey guys.” I greeted them, embarrassed. Sean and Alex, who had been gossiping happily, gave me a nod in acknowledgment. Slightly better, Hank smirked and waved. If he didn’t look like a giant, blue teddy bear, his smirk would have looked intimidating with his new, pointier canines. Charles, who was looking a bit red as well, sat me next to Raven, then he ran off with the excuse of getting me tea.  
“So, uh, what did I miss?” I asked her, crossing my legs. She shrugged.  
“You’ve been out for about two days, Moira and all government influence is gone, and Erik’s become a hermit.” I frowned.  
“I knew he was stuck in his room, but has no one tried to talk to him?”  
“Charles and I have tried, but he barricaded his door.” I scoffed. I bet I could easily get that out of the way, and give Erik a piece of my mind about Shaw, and the whole getting rid of humans thing. I decided I would talk to him about it as soon as I could, I didn’t need all of my hard, slightly unintentional, work to be for nothing. Not to mention, I wasn’t going to let Erik take Raven away all over again. We sat there in silence for a bit, with nothing to say.  
“How’s your leg?” Hank finally asked, leaning forward in his chair.  
“It’s ok.” I waved his concern off. “How have you all been?” Everyone had a few cuts and bruises, but that was fine. I couldn’t see Raven’s, she was currently very blue.  
“We’ve all been waiting for Xavier to open the school, and for you to wake up.” Alex said, slightly annoyed. “Also for the tin man to let us in.” I snorted at his nickname for Erik. He always had a good, insulting nickname whenever you needed one. Good guy, that Alex, and yes, I am being extremely sarcastic. I looked up as Charles came in with a cup of tea for me and one for himself. I thanked him.  
“So,” I took a sip of my tea as he sat down next to me. “you’re going to be a proper Professor soon, eh Charlie?” I joked, waggling my eyebrows. He rolled his eyes, then looked excited.  
“I suppose I will be! Hopefully, these halls will soon be filled with young mutants ready to learn. We’ll need teachers, of course.” He gave the team a hopeful look. Hank and I were on board, but the rest seemed, uncertain. Oblivious to their disinterest, Charles kept talking about the future for the school. Alex, Sean, and Raven all made excuses to leave. He continued on though, and Hank and I gave each other a look.  
“Charlie, can you be a dear and help me to the kitchen?” I asked, putting my hand on his arm and giving him puppy dog eyes. He was just about to say something else about the school, but when he looked at me, he quickly closed his mouth and nodded.  
“Of course!” Charles stood, and helped me up. With his back turned, I motioned for Hank to go. With a nod, he made his escape, saying he was going to go get Alex and Sean to go out and get my crutches. Poor Hank couldn’t go out, he was too blue and fluffy. My leg was less pained as we hobbled to the kitchen. Once there, he sat me down in one of the chairs and asked what I wanted. I told him to surprise me. After some dancing around on his part, and constant laughter and thank you’s on mine, had me us sandwiches and grabbed us Colas. He laughed as I dug into eagerly, praising his sandwich making ability. I hadn’t eaten anything since the morning before Cuba.  
“So,” Charles asked between bites of sandwich. “You haven’t really delved into your abilities. What all can you do?” I stopped eating for a moment, thinking. Obviously, I couldn’t say anything about the time travel, but I suppose everything else was alright.  
“Well, there’s a lot. I have telepathy and telekinesis, and I used teleportation to save you. I can use super strength, I can change my appearance, and pretty much every ability you have encountered so far, other than Shaw and his lackeys’, of course.” I rambled, listing a few. He looked impressed. Wanting to try it out, and to emphasize what I was saying, I used Erik’s ability to pick up a nearby kettle, but it was so strange. Instead of just feeling its weight, the kettle felt like, a part of me. I would have to consult Erik on this.  
“Do you have any experience with teaching?” Charles asked, suddenly changing the subject. I nodded, and put the kettle down, shutting off Erik’s ability. “That’s good, I’ll need to hire a few more people, but I’d prefer to have people I know and trust teaching the children.” I gaped at him, slightly shocked.  
“You...trust me?” I asked, disbelieving.  
“Of course! You may block your mind off, but you have been nothing but kind and helpful. Instead of going back to wherever or even joining Shaw when he attacked, you helped us take him down.” Charles winced a bit. “Though that didn’t end as well as I would have hoped.” I patted his hand.  
“It’s alright now Charles, and thank you. For everything.” I smiled softly, my hand lingering. I started to pull it back, but he reached over and held it tightly.  
“It should be me thanking you. You’ve helped me, and the others, so much.” My heart raced, and blood rushed to my cheeks. We gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, leaning in slightly. Before we could get very far, Erik decided he should make an appearance.  
“Erik?” Charles called, looking around me at the damn metal head. I turned. He didn’t look too good, and his helmet must have been confiscated. Though I doubted Charles would try to read his mind, or even think of controlling him, I probably would. Scratch that, I almost certainly would. Erik waved, and opened up the fridge.  
“Hello.”  
“Hey, Erik.” He grabbed a plate and sat with us. His plate was piled high with various things. I gave him an impressed look, glancing between the plate and the man holding it.  
“Jeez man, you eat like a bear!” He snorted, but I got a small version of one of his huge, shark-like smiles.  
“Thanks for noticing.” We sat there in silence, then all busted out laughing. That’s good, nothing like breaking the tension with some dumb jokes. We joked around a bit more, and Charles and I finished out sandwiches.  
“Could you help me with some school things, Crystal?” Charles asked getting up.  
“Sure!” I beamed, and waved at Erik, then I realized something. “I’m so dumb.” The boys gave me a weird look. “I can heal wounds, including my own.” They gave each other a look, then laughed again. I slapped my forehead, then grabbed my leg, searching for that particular ability. I found it, then felt the warmth that accompanied it wash over me. Within seconds, my leg was fine. I only had a small sliver of a scar.  
“Er, sorry about that.” Erik said nervously, glancing down at the scar. I waved his apology off.  
“It’s fine, but we should really talk soon, ok?” He nodded, hesitantly, and I smiled and got up. Charles and I walked to the library, and I almost wished I hadn’t remembered my healing quite yet. I could have made Charles carry me. Ah, if only. When we started working, we made quick work of most of the paperwork. Sure, the school wouldn’t be recorded in any database, other than our own, but the parents didn’t need to know that.  
“Thanks.” Charles sighed, leaning back, rubbing his face. “I don’t think I could have gotten through that without you.” I chuckled, straightening some papers.  
“You’re very welcome, Charlie, but it wasn’t that much.” He groaned, and I snickered.  
“Gah, I need something to get my mind off that torture.” He leaned around me on the couch, grabbing a book on one of the side tables. I held my breath, trying not to hyperventilate at the closeness. Sitting back, he started to read it on his own, but I leaned against his side, looking over his shoulder. With some mental pleading on my part, he started to read aloud. We had just begun when Alex and Sean busted in, carrying the now unnecessary crutches.  
“We’re back! It took us forever to get these damn things.” Alex brandished them, and Charles and I exchanged a glance.  
“Uh, guys” I smiled sheepishly. “I may have remembered a bit ago that I have the ability to heal wounds, so I won’t be needing those.” The life left their eyes. Alex started swearing like a sailor, and Sean (who wasn’t quite as upset) tried to calm him down, to no avail.  
“It’s alright Alex, we’ll need those eventually, especially once we have a bunch of young, untrained mutants running about.” Charles assured him, and Sean dragged him out of the library. Once they were a safe distance away, we started laughing. A good, full-body laugh. With a few more giggles, we went back to what we were doing. I leaned against Charles as he began to read again. ‘It’s strange how easy this is.’ I mentally mused. ‘How we’ve gotten so close in so little time.’ Putting that aside and closing my eyes, his quiet, soothing voice soon lolled me to sleep. My dreams were filled with happy memories of the older Charles, but all memory of these dreams left before I awoke.  
When I woke up, Charles was trying to get up without waking me up. Obviously, that didn’t work.  
“How long was I asleep, now.” I yawned, holding onto his arm like a teddy bear, pressing my face to his shoulder. Leaning back again, he put the book on the arm of the couch.  
“I don’t think it was for very long, but I ended up falling asleep too, so I dunno.” I hummed, then buried my face farther into his cardigan, too sleepy to think. With my head so close to it, I felt his heartbeat pick up, and that brought a sleepy smile to my lips.  
“If you don’t mind,” He stammered, and I turned my head slightly and cracked an eye open. “I accidently slipped into your mind while you were asleep, and you were dreaming about, me…” Blood started rushing to my cheeks. “and I was much older, why is that?” The blood that was previously filling my face, turned tail and got out of there. My heart started racing, and I froze. ‘Oh god, should I tell him?!’ I thought, terror making my blood run cold. ‘Well, you knew you were going to have to anyway, and you can easily make an escape…’ Charles coughed, and I shot my head up, ending up an inch away from his face.  
“I don’t know what you’re concealing, but you’re projecting pretty loudly.” He breathed softly. I groaned, and rolled off him, keeping my back to him. God, I was bad at this stuff. Choosing to leave my mind open, just in case, I gave in. Searching for every ounce of courage I had, I took a deep breath.  
“I’m from the future.” I mumbled quickly, holding my legs to my chest.  
“Pardon?” Charles asked behind me. I repeated it, but he still couldn’t understand me. Frustrated with my inability to say it properly, I turned around in a huff.  
“Just read my thoughts.”  
“Crystal,” He sighed. “I won’t just go poking around your mind…” I glared at him, and he did as I asked. I took a sharp breath as he did his signature pose, and I thought about what happened before I had come here. Of course, I didn’t show him anything that would make his head explode, just some things that may or may not happen now. I showed him wheeling around in the chair he almost had, Raven training the new X-men, and him and I training. I didn’t show our, relationship, at the time or my heartbreak, not wanting to make either of us uncomfortable. When we were done, he stared at me, his jaw dropped and eyes wide. He opened and closed his mouth, trying and failing to form words. I almost laughed out loud, I had finally rendered Charles Francis Xavier, speechless.  
“How do you now my middle name?” He finally spit out. ‘Of all the things…’ I mused to myself.  
“I read your thesis, and you put your middle name on there.” I explained.  
“Oh…” He continued to sit there, stunned. I waited for him to say something else, but started to get worried after a few minutes.  
“Charles?” I gently touched his arm. “Are you alright?”  
“Wow...just, wow.” He murmured, pressing his hands to his lips. “Two huge revelations in one day, heh.” He laughed nervously. I leaned in slightly, starting to get very concerned about his sanity.  
“Charles, you’re starting to worry me…” I grasped his arm tightly, searching his face for any sign he had lost his mind. With a quick shake, his eyes unglazed.  
“Oh, Crystal! Sorry, luv, I must have seemed mental.” His transformation was so shocking, I almost didn’t notice the ‘luv’. With cheeks pink, I leaned back away from him, but still held onto his arm in case he started to feel faint. With a reassuring smile, he patted my hand.  
“I’m alright now, Crystal. Don’t worry, I won’t faint, but some discussion on the whole future matter is very necessary.” I groaned. “Just not right now.” I nodded, letting go. Though he said he was fine, I could feel his shock radiating off of him. He rubbed his face, slowly, and checked his watch.  
“Well, it’s gotten a bit late, I think we should go check on Erik and the rest.” I nodded, but hesitated to get up.  
“I thought you said Erik was confined to his room, but he has been up and about the house?”  
“I did, but I didn’t say we confined him, it was his own choice.” Charles smirked at my annoyed look. Of course he did. He offered his hand to help me up, and I took it. In the front room, we found the others staring at Erik, cautious of his presence. The man himself didn’t seem to care, just sat there playing with some metal, and looked up at Hank from time to time. Charles and I shared a glance, and we sat with Erik.  
“Look who’s being social!” I joked, nudging him with my elbow. He just rolled his eyes.  
“Do you want to talk, Erik?” Charles tried.  
“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to, Charles.” Erik turned his attention back to the metal balls he was levitating. I glanced at Charles.  
‘Let me try something.’ I projected my plan to him, and he nodded.  
“Hey Erik, could you help me with something outside?” I asked innocently, standing. He gave me a suspicious look, but got up and followed me outside. Once there, he crossed his arms, waiting for our reason to be out here. In the dark, I buried my hands in my pockets, thinking. My plan only went this far.  
“Why are we out here?” He eventually snapped, glaring down at me. All the friendliness from earlier today was gone.  
“I just wanted to talk to you about some, stuff.” I shifted under his angry gaze. He scoffed, and turned to go back to the mansion. “Wait!” I turned him back around, surprising him, and I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Do you have a crush on Hank?” I sputtered, shocking both Erik and myself with the question.  
“W-what!?” He stammered, and in the dark, I saw his cheeks were flushed. Jackpot. I smirked.  
“I was right! You do like him!” I pumped my fist into the air.  
“No!” He denied loudly, and I glared at him incredulously. “I mean, how do you know!?”  He growled, and I rolled my eyes.  
“It’s pretty damn obvious to everyone but you and Hank. And probably Charles…” He was pretty oblivious, especially for a telepath.  
“Really?” Erik sighed, and dropped his walls. “And I thought I had hid it pretty well.” My jaw dropped, who was this man, and what did he do with Erik. “What?” He asked, seeing my shocked look.  
“Nothing, just, I didn’t expect you to get friendly all the sudden.” I shook my head, then smirked again. “Now I know what my next mission will be!” Erik looked slightly scared.  
“I don’t like the sound of that…” I laughed darkly.  
“Let mission ‘get Hank and Erik together’, commence!” Erik went pale.  
“Oh, mein gott…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I ship some weird ships, but I didn’t want to force Raven and Hank together, and if Erik couldn’t have Charles (I ship Cherik like fedex) he could have Hank. Once I thought about it, the ship actually seemed pretty cute so I went with it.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared for some major cuteness! And Erik is actually getting pretty OC-y, but I’m just gonna roll with it, cuz he’s adorable.

The next few weeks passed quickly. I spent most of my time hanging out with the team, all of us growing close. Well, except the two people I have been trying to get together. Erik and Hank refused to get along, always arguing. If I tried to get them to spend time together, it always ended in a fight. Erik tried to be more friendly, more cautious with what he said, but almost always ended up saying something Hank found insulting. After quite a few of these failed attempts at bonding, the normally stony-faced Erik came to my room, crying. Seeing the normally reserved and stony-faced man in that state, it broke my heart, so I tried to give him some advice.

“Try and do something nice for him, like making something. You control metal, I bet you can think of something creative.” He left my room, determined to get on Hank’s good side. That couldn’t go wrong, could it? With that mess out of the way, Raven took me shopping. She tried to make me try on things more to her style, but I refused, she wears way too many skirts. Finally, we settled on a style more to my taste, flowy shirts and jeans, the bohemian look. I got a few blouses and trousers for formal occasions, and one pair of tight jeans Charles seemed to like.

Currently, I was reading beside him in the library. Everyone was having a lazy day today. Raven and Hank have been training (the romance they previously had was gone, but they were still friends), Sean and Alex were swimming in the lake, and Erik was God knows where. On the couch, I stretched my legs out over Charles’s lap. We had grown especially close of late, drawn together by a deep mental connection. We spent most of our time together, and I’ll admit, most of it was spent flirting. Though we kept our comments innocent, and mainly mental, the others started to take notice. At first Raven disapproved (Charles was practically her brother after all), but as her and I’s friendship progressed, she soon was all for it. Hank was very expressive in his opinion, he was utterly for it from the beginning. He constantly dropped hints, mainly to Charles, who was so oblivious most of them went right over his head. For a telepathic genius, he was  _ really  _ oblivious. The other boys, they didn’t care really. Erik was too focused on Hank, and the other two with each other.

We hadn’t talked in a few hours, just a few mental comments from time to time. This was our usual way of spending time together, but we did other things as well. Just yesterday, we had a picnic beside the lake. We had learned a lot about each other as of late. Our favorite colors (his was lilac), our favorite songs (his was  _ To Love Somebody _ ) and that he loves people to run their hands through his hair. Yes, I know how that sounds, but it was very platonic! Maybe… I chortled at something in my book, and opened my mouth to comment about it aloud, but a loud, enraged roar rang through the mansion.

“What the  _ hell  _ was that!” I shouted, pulling my legs back and putting my book down. Charles and I jumped off the couch, running to the source of the sound. We found Hank (who else could have made that ungodly sound) standing there, staring enraged into the lab. Charles and I shared a worried glance as the younger boys joined us, soaking wet. Raven was already there, and Erik was nowhere to be seen, of course.

“What’s wrong Hank?” Raven asked, looking over his shoulder, and gasped. Even more worried the rest of us looked around Hank into the lab. I let out a small gasp of my own. Almost everything metallic was bent into in the shape of a heart, I slapped my forehead.

“Erik, you  _ idiot _ .” I groaned quietly, then glanced back as I felt a presence behind me. “Speak of the devil…” Erik walked up and stood beside me, his hands on his hips.

“What happened?” He asked, feigning innocent curiosity, but I could see the small, proud smirk he was trying to suppress. With a growl, I grabbed his elbow and dragged him away from the crowd of people. Once we got a good distance away, I started on him.

“Why the hell did you do that!?” I scolded him, grasping his arm tightly.

“You told me to!” He said, confused. I face palmed again.

“I told you to make him something, not ruin the lab!” Erik winced. “That’s not going to help you at all!”

“But, they’re hearts…?” I groaned.

“For a 30 year old man, you are so  _ naïve” _ I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I can try and make this work, but next time, try something less destructive.” He looked indignant, but didn’t argue. With his metaphorical tail between his legs, Erik and I went back to the others. Judging by the looks on their faces, everyone (except Hank) had come to the same conclusion I had, but it confused them. I doubted Erik had told anyone else about his attraction to Hank, so they were in the dark. A quick peek in their minds told me that half of them, Raven and Charles, thought Erik was just messing with Hank, and the other half didn’t even try. Those were the boys, and they didn’t stick around for long. Probably guessing they would need to help clean up if they stayed, they went back to the lake. Raven was trying to calm Hank down, and continuously glared at Erik, who was pretty much cowering behind Charles and I, even if he would never admit it. Trying to help, Charles rested his hand on Hank’s shoulder.

“I’m just as upset as you are Hank, as these were  _ my _ things,” He looked over his shoulder to frown annoyedly at Erik, then turned back to Hank. “but we were due for an upgrade anyway.” Sensing an opportunity, I stood by Hank’s other side and whispered into his ear.

“And judging by the hearts, this wasn’t a malevolent act. I think you just might have an admirer.” I waggled my eyebrows, and nudged him with my elbow, hoping he would take the hint. I hadn’t played matchmaker in so long, I was out of practice. I had been pretty good in the past, and I now credit that to my, at the time, unconscious telepathy. My words didn’t seem to have any effect on Hank at first, but his anger soon turned to curiosity.

“Wait, what?” Gotcha. I didn’t say anything, just winked and went back to standing beside Erik, who looked both mortified and livid. I raised an eyebrow and entered his mind.

‘Why in the hell would she do that!? He’ll know for sure now!’ I rolled my eyes.

‘Don’t whine Erik, I just did you a favor.’ He jumped as my voice suddenly filled his thoughts. He glared at me.

‘How on Earth was that doing me a favor!’ These fury filled thoughts were soon followed by so many German and Polish expletives, that I rather not try and translate them. I rolled my eyes again.

‘Just trust me, okay?’ He glowered at me, then gave up fighting me. He turned on his heel and left, probably going back to his room. Charles gave me a concerned look, and I mentally told him I would explain later. We helped the now very confused Hank clean up the lab, and Raven got a list from him of what needed to be replaced. Even if we could get Erik to return them to their former shape, they were beyond repair. We put the ruined equipment in trash bags to be taken away (my telekinesis made this about ten times easier), but I swear I saw Hank put a few of the smaller items in his desk. I let out a quiet ‘aww.’

“Wow.” I whistled, surveying the 15 bags it took to haul the stuff out. “Erik did a number on the lab, didn’t he.” I joked, nudging one of the bags with my socked foot. Hank and Charles nodded solemnly. Halfway through our clean up, Alex and Sean had come back in, and took a shower, and Raven had left to order the new equipment. Erik was probably sulking in his room. I glanced over at Charles to find him with his hands on his hips, the most adorable look on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed, his head tilted a bit to the right, and his lips slightly pouty.

‘So, I’m adorable, eh?’ I went bright red as his voice, oh so British, filled my mind. He winked at me, and I looked away, embarrassed. I had become so used to his mental buzz, I hadn’t noticed it. Ever since I had told him about me being from the future, I had let all my mental walls down, leaving my mind open. He never pried to deep. Noticing my flush, Hank glanced at the both of us, then groaned dramatically.

“Oh, get a room will you!” He winked at me as he pushed past us. Looking up under my lashes, Charles was just as red as I was. I smirked, he was finally getting a taste of his own medicine. We stood there for a moment, awkwardly shifting. Getting a lovely idea, I grinned playfully. He noticed, and smiled softly.

“What is going on in your mischievous mind, luv?” I beamed.

“I’ll race you to the library!” With these words, I shot off in the direction of the library. Glancing behind me, I saw him shake his head at my childishness, then sprint after me. Since he was both more athletic than me and wearing shoes, he quickly overcame me, passing me with a stuck out tongue. I growled, and tried to catch up. Just outside the library, Charles stopped and turned to me. I sprinted even harder for the last few feet, then realized I wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Oh no, no no no!” I squealed as I slid, trying desperately to slow down. His eyes widening, he stepped forward and grabbed me, stopping me from crashing into the library door. I giggled, still terrified, as he spun from the momentum. We were clutched tightly together when we stopped, and I had closed my eyes tight. We stayed like that for a moment, breathing heavily. I kept my eyes firmly closed.

“Are you alright?” He gasped, and I opened my eyes as he brushed the stray hair from my face. I nodded, then we both realized how close we were, and let go of each other, taking a quick step back. We were even more flustered than before. Both not daring to say anything, we walked into the library. Sitting on the same couch, we sat stiffly, and as away from each other as we could on the small couch. I quickly finished the book I had started earlier, but was to distracted to remember anything I had read. Awkwardly, I got up and put the book back, then searched for another. As I looked through the shelves, I felt his gaze intense on my back. His eyes never left me as I walked around the room, trying desperately to get my mind off him. That was hopeless, I couldn’t stop thinking about his breathtaking eyes, that silk-like hair, and those soft lips… With a soft rustle behind me, I reached for a book above me before someone grabbed my wrist and spun me around. I let out a small gasp, before the very lips I had been imagining were pressed to mine.

I felt Charles wrap his hands around my waist, pressing me to the bookshelf, his hungry lips claiming mine. I stiffened, my eyes wide and staring unbelieving at the man holding onto me, but with a tilt of his head, I melted. I found myself kissing back with the same passion, and I reached up and threaded my hands into his hair, anchoring myself.  He slowly deepened the kiss, and with a groan, I tugged on his hair. He purred, and kissed me harder. I couldn’t think, all of my senses were focused on him and his perfect lips. He was so soft and warm, and I felt like I was in heaven. He moved one of his hands to my lower back, pulling me flush against him. I clutched onto his shirt with my other hand, trembling and needing to be even closer. All too soon, we needed to breathe. With one more brush of lips, Charles pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. I brought my hand down, and wrapped my arms around his neck. We stood there like that for a while, panting.

“Well,” I gasped when I could. “that sure was a surprise…” I laughed, opening my eyes, slowly. His eyes were slightly l glazed, like I knew mine surely were. He rested one arm on the bit of shelf by my head, his other hand stroking my cheek. Our gazes never wavered from the other’s.

“Am I right to believe that earned me a date?” He smirked, brushing his thumb over my slightly swollen lips. I practically purred, and pressed my cheek to his hand.

“Hmmm, no.” He looked hurt for a moment, drawing back, but I pulled him back by his collar. “Not  _ a _ date,  _ dates. _ ” I winked, and he looked relieved. Chuckling, he pressed soft kisses to the tip of my nose and my cheeks.

“Tease.” He purred. I giggled, and nuzzled him. With one last breathtaking kiss, Charles took a step back, and we straightened our hair and clothes. That didn’t do much good though, our lips would be evidence enough to our, activities.

“XAVIER!” Alex yelled from somewhere within the mansion. Charles rolled his eyes, but kissed my forehead and went to go check on Alex. Pausing at the door, he turned halfway to me with that charming as hell smile.

“Meet me at the front door at six?” He asked, but he already knew my answer.

“Sure.” I breathed, barely loud enough for him to hear. With a huge grin and a wink, he left, Alex’s shouts growing steadily louder, and more annoying. When Charles was out of sight, I slowly slid against the bookshelf to the floor. I sat with my legs tucked up to my chest, and gently touched my lips, a blissful smile spreading across them.

“I knew it! I knew it!” Raven squealed, jumping up and down. The solemn nature she had taken up recently had completely disappeared when I told her about Charles and I’s time in the library. I was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, chuckling into my tea. From his seat at the table, Hank shook his head, mumbling under his breath about girls’ over excitement about other girls’ dates. A glare from Raven quickly shut him up. Glancing at the clock, she gasped dramatically.

“It’s five already! I’ve only got an hour to help you get ready!” 

“What?” I sputtered, before she dragged me, and my tea, into her room. “Raven!”

“Did you really think I would let one of my best friends go without help for a date with the man I know almost everything about?” She raised one red eyebrow. I huffed, and let her do her thing. I knew she wouldn’t do anything I wouldn’t, and I was really nervous. Raven would do good, of course. 

“Why…?” I asked simply as she pulled an outfit out of her closet that would obviously not fit her tall frame. “I mean, thanks, but why did you buy me this?” I held up the midnight blue blouse and black, slightly form fitting, trousers. It wasn’t like I wasn’t grateful, or that it wasn’t something I would wear, but she bought it without my knowledge. I detested clothes shopping, and would have rather spent my time in the bookstore, and had wanted to get out quickly that day.

“You picked out absolutely  _ nothing  _ date worthy! So, I picked something out for you.” She gave a little nod, that was the end of the discussion. Popping into her bathroom, I quickly changed. Looking me over, she began. Though she worked quite quickly, Jean tended to need a few hours to get ready for the simplest dates, it still felt long and torturous for me. When she finally finished up, my now shoulder length hair was pulled back into a bun with a few curled locks of hair framing my face. Raven had gone with the good decision of having me put on basic lipstick and mascara, nothing too out of the ordinary, though she made sure the shade of lip wouldn’t clash with the color of the blouse. All done, I waited by the door, tapping my foot nervously. I frowned at Raven, who was standing in a nearby doorway with thumbs up. I glared at Hank and Erik, who had wanted to see Charles and I off as well.

“Really guys?! I didn’t want an audience for this date!” I shooed them off, but was happy to see that the boys were getting along. To my surprise, I felt arms wrap around me from behind.

“Hello luv!” Charles snickered at my squeak of fright as I wiped around to face him. I pouted.

“It’s not funny, Charlie!” I crossed my arms, the blouse ruffling beneath my folded arms. He laughed again, and pressed a kiss to my forehead, then released me.

“Sure, luv.” My annoyance faded as he looked me over, and I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. “You look beautiful, Crystal.” I looked away, feeling both shy and extremly pleased.

“Thanks, but you’re the one that looks great.” I glanced back over at him, taking in his tan blazer and slacks, and that lilac dress shirt I loved. He flushed slightly, and ran his hand through his already fashionably tousled hair. He flashed me an adorable, and slightly nervous smile, and offered his arm.

“We should get going.” I took his offered arm and we walked out the door, not before he grabbed our coats, and he escorted me to his car. Once inside, I turned to Charles and leaned on the console.

“Where  _ are _ we going, Charlie?” I asked and cocked my head, and the moonlight shining in from his window illuminated my face, and gave him a sort of silvery halo around his head. It was a good look on him. He didn’t respond for a moment, just stared. “Hello? Earth to Charles?” I waved a hand in front of his face. With a little shake, he pulled himself from his thoughts.

“Sorry luv, I was distracted by a gorgeous sight in front of me.” He winked, and my already flushed face grew hotter. ‘Damn that man and his flirting.’ I thought lovingly. “As for where we’re going, it’s a surprise.” He stroked my cheek fondly, then faced the right way and started the car. We drove for about 30 or so minutes, then we pulled up at what looked like a carnival. I gaped at the sight in front of the car. 

“Surprise.” He grinned dorkily, turning towards me again. I beamed at him excitedly, unbuckled my seatbelt, and kissed Charles, giving him a tight hug.

“Thank you!” I squealed, laughing joyously as I turned and jumped out of the car. Dumbfounded, but delighted in my reaction, Charles stepped out of the car and followed me into the carnival. We went from booth to booth, taking turns to try and win the prizes. I ended up winning a few more than him, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, when I won the last one, he picked me up and spun me around, then pressed a kiss to the top of my head. We ended our night on the Ferris Wheel. I leaned my head on Charles’s shoulder, staring up at the dark, starry sky.

“Tonight was amazing.” I breathed, squeezing his hand. “Thank you.” I looked up at him, a nice warmth rushing all over me. He smiled, staring into my eyes with pure adoration. I blushed slightly, leaning in a bit.

“You’re so very welcome, luv.” He whispered, leaning in too. “Would it be too cheesy to kiss you right now?” He teased.

“Not at all.” I beamed, and he closed the distance, kissing me sweetly. This kiss was light, and loving, but filled with just as much or even more passion than our previous ones. I clutched the front of his shirt with one hand, the other holding onto his knee. He cupped my face, tilting his head slightly. We stayed like that ‘till the end of the ride, or lips gently moving against each other’s. The teenager running the wheel gave us an awkward look, but we ignored him. The car ride back was silent, but a comfortable silence. The one where no words, or telepathy, was needed. I had fallen asleep during the ride, and awoke to being carried in Charles’s arms, again.

“Hey.” I yawned, nuzzling into the warmth of his dress shirt.

“Hello there, sleeping beauty.” He teased, and I slapped his shoulder lightly. He laughed, stroking my side. He put me down right outside my bedroom door. I hugged him tightly, burying my face into his chest. I heard the rumble in his chest as he laughed, pressing soft kisses to the top of my head.

“You’re adorable, you know that, right.” I hummed, and he laughed even harder. Letting him go, I pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips.

“Good night Charles.”

“Good night Crystal.” With one last squeeze of our hands, I went to bed, the end to an interesting day, and perfect night.

 


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this is an interesting chapter. It’s a double whammy, it’s a huge jump forward in the timeline, and it’s based on Days of Future Past. Yep, so many feelos in this one. Once more, I don’t, and never will, own the X Men, Marvel, or any of its characters and plots. This is all for fun. P.S. It’s got more cussing than usual, so if you’re not about that, I’m sorry.

**Chapter Nine**

 

I stretched out on my bed, more relaxed than I had been in years, and stared up at the drab ceiling. Charles and I have been married for eight years now. We dated for around two years, and Hank and Erik soon followed our example. Sadly, Erik had tried to save President Kennedy after I had made a comment of my regret he would be assassinated. I had told them all about my time travel, and I occasionally made comments like this. Erik had already made plans to go to Dallas with Hank, but he went early, on the guise of finding a good hotel, and tried to save Kennedy. It turned out, he was a mutant, like us. Regretfully, he was stopped before he could finish curving the bullet, and got blamed for Kennedy’s death. He disappeared, but the next February he came back to tell us the truth, and to say good bye. We tried to get him to just hide out, or to have us tell the authorities the truth, but he refused. Erik didn’t want to put us in danger, and didn’t think the authorities would believe us. He then turned himself in to the police, and Hank hasn’t forgiven him since.

The next year, we opened the school.  _ Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.  _ I was delighted to see how the school I loved so much was created, and I stayed out of the design planning, but it was different from when I had attended. We only altered the mansion a bit, but  _ still _ . I knew that when the Apocalypse guy attacked, Alex had accidently destroyed it, but I still was mildly surprised. Apocalypse’s return to the world was one of the many things that I hadn’t told any of them, and Charles knew to stay out of the bit of my head that held memories of the future. This was the year Charles proposed.

{ _ Flashback _ }

 

_ It was beautiful, and he had been planning for ages, but  _ of course,  _ something went wrong. He had meant to ask me at dinner, but got too scared and couldn’t do it. _

_ “My dearest Crystal…” He had reached out and grabbed my hand, looking deep into my eyes. We had just had the waiter take out order. _

_ “Hm? What is it Charles, and what’s with the formal tone?” I had laughed nervously, and had half a mind to read his, and figure out what was going on, but I had decided against it. The already nervous look on his face had turned to pure terror, and he tried to play it off. _

_ “Erm, never mind, how is your lesson plan coming along?” I was suspicious, but dropped the subject. Halfway through dinner, the gang had popped out of nowhere, and yelled their congratulations. Charles had told them to come out at a certain time, and they had expected him to have already popped the question by then. I was extremely confused, and they could tell. They practically ran away, but had stayed in the restaurant to see if Charles would finally do it. He was still terrified, and now  _ _ really _ _ embarrassed, but pulled a small, velvet box out of his pocket. I gasped. In the middle of a full, and quite fancy restaurant, Charles got on one knee and proposed. He was a bit late, but it was just as amazing as if he had gone with his plan. With the man I loved more than anything else in this world on his knee, such powerful and emotional words bursting from his lips, I said  _ **yes** **_._ **

 

_ {End of Flashback} _

 

With slight regret, our wedding had to wait until we had gotten settled in the school. We loved all the children that had passed through our doors as if they were our own, but the war in Vietnam soon took almost all of our older students, including our friends Alex and Sean, and teachers, and this weighed too hard on the school and we had to close it down. This left some of our younger students without anywhere to go, and I tried my best to find them safe places to stay. The day we closed, something changed in Charles. 

About a month before, Hank had perfected the serum that would ‘fix’ his mutation, allowing him to decide when he wanted to go into ‘Beast Mode’. My Charles got interested in this, and got Hank to see if it could ‘shut off’ his telepathy. The voices had grown too bad, there was too much pain and despair. Hank had offered this ‘ _ cure’ _ to me as well, but I refused. I hated seeing Charles like this. Charles was no longer  _ my  _ Charles, he was a different man. He tried to be my Charles and take the ‘cure’ at the same time, but this only lasted for about a year. When Hank, and then Charles, started taking the ‘cure’, Raven left, unable to see her closest friends like this. She offered for me to go with her, but I couldn’t, I knew what her leaving was going to do to him, and I needed to be here. I was right, her leaving was the final straw. Charles went into a deep, apathetic depression. He just drank, took his ‘medication’, and stayed in his room, other than when he needed a refill. Hank and I tried our best to keep him from getting alcohol poisoning, and Hank tried to keep his ‘medication’ amounts low, but Charles took to much. He grew dependent on it. Every so often, he would have moments of clarity, where he was more my Charles than that other man. 

That was the reason this little one was here. I brushed a hand over my slightly swollen stomach. I was around four months, and still hiding it. The initial morning sickness period was explained as a long lasting stomach bug, as if Charles cared enough to even want to know the reason why. Hank knew, of course, but I couldn’t bare telling Charles. I wore loose clothes, and if I did show, I just changed what he would perceive. I traced a swirling pattern on my stomach, delving into those few positive daydreams. Thinking of Charles and I raising this little one, seeing what they would grow into. With my new room (away from Charles) on the ground floor, I heard a loud knock on the front door.

“That’s strange…” I murmured to myself. No one should be here, we had a large  _ No Trespassing  _ sign on the front gate. I got up, and went into the hall. I started towards the foyer, but Hank, who’s room was the same hall as mine, stopped me.

“I got it.” I nodded, but need to get some blood in my legs, so I went anyway. I leaned on the railing of the staircase, watching Hank open the door. He opened the door just a fraction, and asked the person what they wanted. A man asked about the school. From my vantage point, I could see him. He was bulky, and had a weird haircut. Hank tried to turn the man away, but the man just forced his way in.

“Hey.” I warned, stepping forward. The man ignored me until I tried to block his way.

“Sorry ma’am.” He easily brushed me out of the way, and my blood boiled. ‘Rude.’ I growled in my head, but I didn’t care to try and fight him. Hank kept trying to get weird haircut guy to leave, but he refused. When Hank tried to drag him out, he turned. He told him that they would be good friends, then proceeded to punch him in the face.

“Hank!” I cried, running to his side. He quickly told me he was fine, and went into beast mode. I glared at the man, who was currently calling for a ‘Professor’, but felt slight pity for him. Whoever this man was looking for, this new Charles was not him, and if I didn’t intervene, he would be beat up by Hank. Hank went after the man, but I used my telekinesis to freeze the both of them, and read the man’s mind. My blood ran cold. This man, Logan, was from the future. Well, his conscious was, but minor details like that didn’t matter. With my mind distracted with this shock, the men kept on. Logan went up the stairs and down a hall, but Hank was close on his heels. There was a bit of a tussle, and Logan came flying from the hall. He landed  _ hard _ on the floor, and Hank came barreling and threw him down the stairs, and onto a table. He broke the table, glass shattering everywhere. I frowned, I liked that table. Hank hung from the chandelier above, poised to attack again.

“Hank?” A drunk, as usual, Charles called. “What’s going on?” Logan recognized him, and tried to call him professor, but was shot down. All of the men were confused, Hank and Charles about why a strange man was here, and Logan about what was wrong with Charles, and why he was walking. I frowned at that. ‘Why would he wonder about that?’ I asked myself. ‘I kept Charles from losing his ability to walk.’ Charles tried to get Logan to leave too, but once again, he refused. He told them that he was from the future, and that he was sent by Charles, about 50 years from now. I let out a low whistle. The guys didn’t believe him. I stood up as Logan told Charles all the things he had told him in the future. Some of the things even  _ I _ didn’t know. It was a good shot, but with the mere mention of Raven, Charles was gone. He went back to his office, and I followed him.

“Charles.” I started, trying to tell him Logan was telling the truth, but he ignored me. Like usual. I rolled my eyes, and prayed Logan could sway him. Logan explained what the future entailed, it was awful, full of violence against mutants. He told us that we needed to stop Raven from killing a man named Trask. Charles told him that Raven was a lost cause, that only Erik (who had become like a brother to Raven and I) could get her to do anything.

“That’s why we’ll need Magneto too.” Charles and Hank looked stupidly at him. I huffed. ‘Magneto? He actually used that stupid name?’ I mused to myself. Charles left the room, hurting at the reminder of his old friend. Logan called him back, and he did, but not in a way Logan wanted.

“I’m going to say what you did all those years ago, fuck off.” I almost corrected him, but Logan grabbed him.

“Logan.” I warned, placing my hand on his arm. “Let. Him. Go.” He did as I bade. “Charles, he’s telling the truth, about everything.” He didn’t look shocked, and turned away, going back to his room. I went to follow him, but let him go. He needed to work this out by himself. I sunk down in one of the chairs, my head in my hands. In the office, Hank told Logan what had brought Charles to this state.

“Crystal and I are the only ones keeping him from killing himself.” He concluded. Logan glanced at my hunched form, and let out a short bark of a laugh.

“So you’re the reason this is all so different.” I looked up.

“What?” He stood, and walked up to me.

“Since I’ve been here once already, my mind has gotten, sensitive to time stuff.” He got right in my face. “And you’ve messed up the timeline.” I gaped at him. “What did you do?” My mind raced, did I change too much?

“I saved Charles in ‘62.” I whispered, and he grunted. “I didn’t think it would do anything!” He shrugged.

“It didn’t do much, in the long round, but it made this just the little bit harder for me. I have to have his stupid conversation with you because of it, bub.” I continued to gape.

“I’ll help you get her.” Charles announced all the sudden from behind Logan. “Not for any of your future shite, but for her.” Logan straightened up, looking over his shoulder. “And would you kindly get the hell away from my wife.” I rolled my eyes, the shock fading. Of all the things he retained, it was his possessiveness.

I glanced around the house we were in front of. Hank and Charles had explained to Logan how they planned to get Erik out of the pentagon, but had no way to get in or out of Erik’s cell. They turned to me, but I wouldn’t do anything too dangerous, I wasn’t going to endanger the baby. I didn’t say this, of course, just said that with my recent bad health, I shouldn’t do it. Hank gave me a look, but didn’t say anything. With me out of the question, Logan said he knew a guy, and this was his house. It was a decent sized place, and a young man didn’t live here alone. This was no bachelor pad, this was a family home.

“He lives with his mom, doesn’t he.” I mused, and the guys gave me a weird look. I just waved them off. Logan pounded on the door, and a woman answered. I skimmed through her thoughts, and I grinned. He did live with his mom, but my grin faltered. ‘No..’

“What’s he done now.” She asked, looking used to seeing groups of people at her door. Logan told her we just need to talk as the rest of us smiled, trying to look friendly, and she nodded and let us in. “Peter! The cops are here.” I snickered, and looked down at the welcome mat. It had a curious burn on it. We walked down to the basement, and the ‘guy’ Logan knew was playing ping pong, by himself. I frowned, and mentally swore. ‘He’s just a kid.’ I growled in my head. His mutation was impressive though.

“Wow.” I breathed, impressed by his speed. He zipped around the room, not before giving me a delighted smile, then proceeded to say he didn’t do anything. Logan assured the boy we weren’t cops, but Peter already knew. He also knew we were driving a rental car, and had looked through Charles’s wallet. I grinned again, and Logan explained our plan.

“So what’s in it for me?” He asked, still playing Pong on an arcade machine, most likely stolen.

“You, you kleptomaniac, get to break into the pentagon.” Charles sighed. Peter turned, his interest peaked.

“How can I trust you?”

“Because we’re like you.” Logan said, letting out his bone claws, and I levitated some stuff.

“That’s cool.” He pointed towards me, and I smirked. “That’s cool too, but it was disgusting.” He grimaced at Logan, and I giggled. The kid had a point.

We were soon getting into our positions in the pentagon. I was with Hank, both his back up and the mental connection within the group. Charles was with Logan, and Peter was on his way to breaking Erik out. Hank pulled a transmitter out of his fanny pack, stupid, I know, but it did its job. He fiddled with it, and messed stuff up. I kept a mental link with Peter and Charles, and smiled when Peter got to Erik’s cell.

“Peter’s in.” I whispered to Hank, and he nodded. I watched through Peter’s eyes. Erik looked great for being in a cell for all these years. I projected the image of him to Hank, and he smiled sadly. I saw Peter begin to rattle the glass, soon shattering it with a look of pure glee. Then alarms went off, and Hank fiddled with the transmitter again. Erik heaved himself up, and warned Peter of the guards, but Peter had it covered. He placed his hand on Erik’s neck, and sped them out through the line of guards into the elevator. I had to close the mental link for a bit, it was so fast, and Erik looked a bit sick after. Peter teased him, asking what he had done to get himself in a prison under the pentagon.

“I killed the president.” Erik groaned, and Peter looked a bit shocked, but mainly...impressed? Weird kid, but I liked him well enough. Peter asked him if he knew Karate, Erik didn’t, but told him he knew crazy. Peter smiled, childlike, and my recently chilled heart warmed. In my other link, Charles and Logan crashed into the kitchen that Hank had made the sprinklers go off in. Charles tried to bluff themselves through, but Logan ended up having to knock out the men guarding the elevator. I glanced at Hank. He nodded, reading my look, and grabbed my arm. Breathing deeply, I teleported us to Charles and Logan. They jumped, but recovered quickly. With Charles distracted by the door, I pressed my stomach, using my telepathy thoroughly, making sure the baby was ok. I was hit with a huge (but positive) surprise, but before I could comprehend it, the elevator door opened, revealing Erik and Peter. 

“Charles?” Erik called, looking confused, then looked at Hank, his face softening. “Hank.” I felt a wave of emotions from the both of them, but Hank’s weren’t all positive, and I was too late to stop him. He pushed past Logan and Charles, and punched Erik in the jaw.

“Don’t you try and think that we’re just fine after this.” He growled as Erik rubbed his jaw.

“Not the long awaited meeting again I had hoped for, eh?” He grinned, a drop of blood trickling from his mouth as he stood. Hank’s may have had some pretty negative emotions towards Erik right now, but he still loved the man. He grabbed Erik in a tight hug.

“I hated you for leaving, letting yourself get sent here.” Hank whimpered, and Erik nodded, holding him close.

“I know, I know.” They were having an adorable moment, but ended up snickering at Peter’s weirded out expression. He had figured out the same thing I had. Erik wasn’t quite  _ as  _ gay as I thought, he was more like Hank. Sensing more people, I cleared my throat.

“Hey, we’ve got company.” Erik and Hank let go of each other, and we all turned as guards stormed in.

“Don’t move, or we’ll shoot!” They yelled, and Erik looked at Charles desperately.

“Charles, freeze them.”

“I- I can’t.” Erik looked bewildered, then glanced to me.

“Crystal?” I shook my head, I couldn’t do it in time. I was no good at mind control, and with the sheer amount of people, I would have to use my hands to try and freeze them telekinetically. He closed his eyes, and pressed a kiss to Hank’s cheek. To my surprise, Charles reached over and grabbed my hand. Wow, we have to be moments from death to get him to show affection. We watched as Erik started to use his powers, and we all waited for the bullet shots. Tears ran down my cheeks, but in a grey flash, all the guards were knocked out, and bullets diverted. We all took a step back, and stared at a proud of himself Peter.

“Wow.” I breathed, for the second time about this boy, and he grinned. We stood there, catching our breaths, and getting soaked in the process. I pulled at my sweatshirt, trying to cover my bump. Peter gave me a knowing look.

“Now what?” Logan asked after some time. Charles was staring into my eyes, a switch taking place behind his eyes.

“We get the hell out of here.”

It was risky, teleporting again, and with so many people, but I pulled through. Hank pulled us all a change of clothes out of the rental car, and we changed, then went to board the private plane we were taking to Paris.

“I saw your flight plan, why are you going to Paris?” Peter asked as we said our goodbyes to him. We gave each other nervous glances, and decided to forgo explaining. Charles threw Peter the rental car’s keys, and told him to give it back to the rental place, and to go slow. I severely doubted he would do either.

“You’re a good kid, Peter.” I told him as I gave him a tight hug (I was very maternal), and confirmed his thoughts on Erik, along with gaining his cool speed.

“Thanks, you’re a cool chick.” I rolled my eyes, beaming, and ruffled his hair. “You keep good care of her, Charlie-boy, and your kids.” I froze as he directed his comment to Charles. Charles’s face contorted in confusion, giving me a look.

“Kids?”

“I know twins when I see ‘em, Xavier.” Peter smiled, then read the energy. “Oh, sorry, I gotta...go.” He quickly jumped into his new car, and sped off. Charles stared at me, noticing my slight bump for the first time.

“Kids?” He repeated, whispering. I nodded, unable to say anything. With a ragged breath, he walked into the plane, and headed straight to the liquor cabinet. Hank gave me an empathetic look, then took his place in the cockpit. Logan, who was already in the plane, stayed out of it. Erik, on the other hand, drew close.

“Kids?” He asked the same question Charles did, and I broke down, starting to cry. Erik pulled me into a comforting, but a bit awkward hug. I let go of all my pent up emotion. Mentally, I explained (vented really) all that had happened and how cold and depressed Charles had grown as I sobbed. Once I got it all out, or most of it, Erik held me at arm’s length, brushing my tears from my cheeks.

“Are you ok to go in?” I nodded, and followed him into the plane. Too emotionally unstable, I sat with Hank. Erik pulled a glass and a bottle out of the cabinet as Logan glowered from his seat. Looking into his mind, I saw that he hated planes. I smiled, projecting. 

‘Me too Logan, me too.’ He jumped, like everyone who wasn’t telepathic when a voice that wasn’t your own was in your head, then rolled his eyes.

‘Damn telepaths.’ I snickered, then got out of his head. Logan wasn’t a bad guy. I turned forward, cringing as we took to the air. Hank flashed me an amused look, and we remembered the flight to Cuba. Hopefully, this one would go  _ much _ better. It was nice, being up here with Hank, especially now that we both had men that we loved dearly, but weren’t too happy with, behind us. Speaking of which, I glanced behind me as Erik sat across from Charles. I groaned, this wasn’t going to end well. Their opposing moral views made them very prone to arguments, and a big one was brewing. With the all clear from Hank, I got up, and slowly made my way to them. By the time I was by Logan, the argument had begun. I watched them, annoyedly, as their tempers flared.

“You abandoned us!” Charles yelled standing nose-to-nose with Erik. Began naming all the mutants that had died while we had done nothing to stop it. I held back a sob as the memories of the past years played behind my eyes. This had been one of my biggest regrets, and I  _ had _ done everything I could. Without help, all I had been able to do was see that the youngest students had a place to stay. I hadn’t been able to stop them from taking away our friends and older students, and Charles, who could have done  _ something,  _ just watched it happen. With each name, Erik’s powers pulled the plane into a dive. Logan grabbed me, and clutched the arm of his seat with pure terror. I called to Erik, begging him to calm down. He did, slightly.

“You abandoned us  _ all.”  _ With this, the plane leveled out. Beside me, and still holding my arm, Logan was calming down from his mild heart attack. I on the other hand, was unfazed by their displays of anger. I was to angry, with the both of them now, to be frightened. I stepped forward, and wrenched the two away from each other.

“Will you two stop fighting for  _ one  _ damn plane ride!” I snarled, glaring at the both of them. Erik backed down, and sat in his seat, but Charles continued to stand. I could feel his rage and hurt pouring off of him.

“You really have the  _ audacity  _ to lecture us, while you’ve kept  _ this, _ ” He gestured to my stomach, and I wrapped an arm protectively around it. “from me?! Am I even the father?!” He voice raised with every word, and so did my anger.

“How dare you even  _ think _ that, Charles.” I snarled again, pushing him in the chest. “I love you daft idiot, though I have no idea why, you’ve been an utter ass after you started taking that ‘ _ medication _ ’. I hissed the last word. I was finally voicing what I had been bottling up all these years. He scoffed, his eyes watering.

“You know why I take it, Crystal!”

“Yes, but it isn’t a damn excuse! You know I’m telepathic too, right?! I’ve heard the same voices, the same sadness and pain, but I got through it!” I was practically screaming now, and random objects began to shake. Logan swore, and closed his eyes, bracing himself. Charles growled.

“ _ You  _ don’t have to deal with it all the damn time!” I scoffed, crossing my arms.

“What, do you think I can just turn it off?!” His expression confirmed it, and I snapped, slapping him across the face. “I can’t believe you! That’s the one damn gift I can’t shut off!” I roared, and small things began to whip around the plane. “You’d know that if you got off your angsty ass and paid attention!” I turned away from him, tears streaming down my face. “Or if you cared at all.” Behind me, his anger faded, and he reached out, holding my shoulder. I turned my head from his hand.

“Crystal, my love, I’m…” He choked out, and I looked over my shoulder. “...so,  _ so  _ sorry. I’ve been a total arse for much too long.” I laughed bitterly, but turned back to face him. Charles pulled his hand back, and opened his arms. I hesitated, but stepped into his embrace, clutching his shirt and burying my face into his chest like always. He slowly wrapped his arms around me, and held me tight. I shook in his arms, and he pressed kisses to my head.

“I love you, Crystal.” Relief filled my chest, and my throat tightened.  _ My  _ Charles was back.

“I love you too, Charles.” 

 


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

 

I had been sleeping in the chair beside Logan when Charles and Erik started talking again. I cracked an eye open, but they seemed fine, so I just relaxed and listened. They talked about Raven killing Trask, something I had no knowledge about as  I was a little girl and in the other timeline. This whole timeline thing was weird, and Logan’s explanations still didn’t make sense. I smiled happily as they started to play chess, and drifted back to sleep.

Once we arrived in Paris, we got into yet another rental car, and drove to wherever the Peace Accords Celebration was. This is where Raven is supposedly going to try to kill Trask. As we drove up to the gate, Erik easily got the guards out of the way and opened the gate with his power. Once inside, we had to walk up all these stairs. After the first flight, I gave up and cheekily used Erik’s ability to fly up. Hopefully, none of the cameras picked that up. When we got to the room, we watched as guards hauled the Vietnamese leaders and such to safety. Inside, we saw Raven knock out some man, and point the gun at a really short guy. I read his mind. ‘So this is Trask?’ I mused. ‘He’s six feet of evil in a four foot man.’ Looking away from Trask, I stared at Raven. She was in her natural blue form, I smiled sadly. I had missed her all these years.

“Raven.” Charles called as we walked into the room. Raven hesitated, and a man on the ground tased her. She fell onto the table, shaking. Thankfully, Erik pulled the barbs out and stuck them into the man.

“Charles.” She gasped, still feeling the effects of the taser. Charles smiled, stroking her forehead.

“We’ve come for you, Erik and I.” I coughed. “And Crystal.” He added, amused. “Together.” Beside me, Logan was staring at the man on the floor, looking disturbed. I frowned, and with a wave of my hand, the barbs were removed, and both them and the taser were shot across the room. Logan still didn’t look good, but my attention was soon diverted to Erik, who pulled the gun Raven was going to use on Trask into his hand.

“Erik.” I warned, placing my hand on his arm. Raven echoed me on the table, fearfully staring at him as he pointed the gun at her. Charles whipped around.

“Erik, what are you doing?”

“Securing our future.” He responded grimly. “Forgive me, Mystique.” I cringed, we need to stop using our code names in conversation unless we’re in a battle. Maybe not even then. Erik kept going. “As long as you’re out there, we’ll never be safe.” This was a scene from the future, and I knew how it ended. I froze Erik and Raven, who was poised to jump out the window, as Hank tackled his boyfriend to the ground. In his ear, Hank told Erik to stop being an idiot.

“All of you, calm the hell down before I knock you out.” I growled through gritted. In the corner, Logan was wigging out. I had half a mind to knock him out to calm him down, but I had to keep all of my energy on keeping Raven and Erik frozen. I wasn’t as good at this as Charles was. I floated Raven into a chair on the other side of the room, and she stayed there when I let her go. I glanced at Hank, who was poised to hold Erik down, so I let go of Erik as well. I panted, I hadn’t used this much of my power in so long. In yet another corner, Trask was staring, terrified. I flashed him a toothy smirk that could rival Erik’s in sharkyness, and entered his mind.

‘I mean you no permanent harm, but you are an awful person.’ He looked confused, right before I slammed the lamp I had been levitating behind him into his head. His knees buckled as his eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the floor. Logan stared at me, his future consciousness no longer inhabiting his body.

“What the-, where am I?” He asked, eyes wild as he tried to stand. Charles looked at him confused, but figured it out.

“Oh, ah.” Charles thought quickly, then kneeled in front of him. “You’re on acid.” I snorted. “Someone gave you really bad acid, yeah?” I snorted again, Charles was a really bad liar. Soon, Logan’s future conscious returned to his body.

“Woah.” He groaned, rubbing his head. Ignoring him, I looked to my two friends, who I love dearly.

“Can you two promise not to try and kill each other?” I looked pointedly at Erik, who was still recovering from my mental freeze. He glowered.

“We have to keep her from causing the future he,” He motioned to Logan. “told us about.” I nodded, carefully, then turned to Raven.

“Raven, please come back to the mansion with us.” She looked shocked.

“Wait, you want me to come back?”

“Of course! You’re one of my best friends! And, I _need_ another female in the mansion, the amount of testosterone is much too high.” I joked and she laughed softly, then nodded. “Good, and you got some mutants out of the army?” I asked, and she gave me a surprised look. I waggled my fingers by my temple, and she rolled her eyes, then nodded again. I grinned. “And I know where most the kids we sent away live.” I looked around, hoping someone would get what I was hinting at.

“You want to reopen the school?” Hank took the bait, and I beamed.

“Exactly!” I glanced over at Charles. “But we may need to use Cerebro to find some of them.” He frowned, and shook his head.

“Crystal, I can’t.” I huffed, but didn’t press him.

“Fine, I’ll use it then. Now, how are we getting out?” I looked around the group. “Any ideas?” They were silent, and I sighed. “Fine, but I don’t want to push my luck by teleporting again, so I’ll try to make us invisible to the guards.” I pressed two fingers to the middle of my forehead, a rendition of Charles’s signature pose. I usually didn’t need to use a gesture, but this was going to need almost all of my focus. I readied my mind to get into all the minds of the people we encountered. “Ok, let’s go.” It was a bit hard to see with my hand covering my right eye, but my telepathy gave me heightened senses, so it was all good. We walked easily out of the building, and the hardest part was figuring out how we would all fit in the car.

“We didn’t plan this far…” Hank groaned.

“Charles and I can take a cab.” I offered. “Hank, can you keep the two of them from fighting?” He nodded, and Charles and I left them to hail a cab. The ride was awkward, and the driver opted not to talk to us, other than asking for where we wanted to go. I sat beside Charles, our legs touching in the slightly cramped cab. Though we didn’t talk, Charles had my hand in his, his thumb brushing the back of mine. I leaned my head on his shoulder, glancing down at the rings on my left hand. I remembered our slightly silly engagement and beautiful wedding. I must have been projecting, because he squeezed my hand and kissed the top of my head. Sighing happily, I relished this long overdue intimacy.

“What should we name them?” His sudden, slightly cracky voice surprised me.

“Um, what do you think?” I stammered, not expecting this. With telepathy, I could tell if the baby, now babies, were ok, but I hadn’t thought about what to name them.

“Hm, we’ll have to give them fitting names.” We thought carefully.

“I’d like to name one after you.” I said slowly, watching his reaction. Charles was both surprised and elated.

“Really? Even after this?” He waggled his fingers at his head. I laughed softly.

“Yes, but _that_ is a discussion we need to have later.” I gave him a pointed look. He rubbed his neck sheepishly, and changed the subject back to the twins.

“What if they’re both girls?” He asked, stroking my side.

“Then we’ll name her Charlotte.” I booped his nose. “And call her Charlie.” He chuckled, giving me a one-armed hug.

“Sure, _dear_ , what about the other one?” I giggled at my new pet name.

“Hm, I’ve always like the name Anastasia. If they’re both boys, we can call one Hank, _darling._ ” I said simply, emphasizing the ‘darling’. Charles nodded, and brought my hand up to his lips, kissing it softly. This is one of the many reasons I love Charles, even when we’ve been apart for so long, our love never wavers. Though, if he keeps up drinking and taking that ‘medication’, I’m going to throttle him.

“Hopefully, Raven and Hank will be up for babysitting.” Charles mused.

“What about Erik?” I teased, and he winced jokingly.

“You know he’s not that fond of kids, dear. Besides, he’d probably lock them in a cage or something.” We laughed, the awkwardness between us gone.

“True, true, babe.” I agreed. The rest of the drive and the plane ride went by in a blur. All I remembered was that I really needed to sleep, but Raven kept raving about being an aunt. She had recovered quickly, and though she and Erik avoided each other, they were on decent terms. I doubted they would ever be as close as they once had been. Thankfully, Charles got her to leave me alone so I could sleep. I had forgotten how great a pillow he was. We got back to the mansion in record speed (or so I thought, I was still asleep when we got there), but as soon as we got in, Charles collapsed, his head in his hands.

“The voices…” I rushed to his side, stroking his hair.

“It’s ok Charles, just let them in, don’t fight them.” I could feel the pain and fear radiating off of him. He started to ask for the ‘medication’, then stopped and did as I said. I tried my best to help muffle the pained cries, whispering comforting words into his mind. I shifted in front of him, and held his head in my hands. “Charles, darling, look at me.” Slowly, he raised his head and opened his eyes. “It’ll be over soon, the initial rush of voices will pass.” I whispered, searching his sky blue eyes. His labored breathing soon normalized, and I kissed him. Pulling him into my arms, I murmured calming words into his ear until he stopped shaking. Soon, I felt his familiar buzzing in my mind, and a goofy grin spread across my face. _My_ Charles was fully back.

“Hello, luv.” He croaked, and stood shakily, then helped me up. “Let’s go find our students.” He soon was supporting a matching grin. We all went to Cerebro, but Hank and Erik waited outside, as I helped Charles get the headpiece on. Logan, Raven, and I watched him try to use it, but all those thoughts soon grew too overwhelming. He flung the thing off, hyperventilating. “I, I can’t.” He stood quickly, and tried to leave, but I stopped him.

“Babe, you _can_ do it.” I pressed a hand to his cheek, and Logan offered his help. We turned Cerebro’s chair around, and Charles went into Logan’s mind. Curious, I entered Charles’s to watch. Charles sat up on a table, and he was in a room with people I didn’t recognize. On closer inspection, I realized the man in the wheelchair was an even older Charles, and behind him, an older Erik. The other two, a man and a woman, I didn’t recognize. Everyone but young Charles was frozen. With a touch, the older Charles started to move.

“Charles.” He said, his eyes shut.

“Charles.” Young Charles grinned. At first, the discussion between the two was tense, present Charles was more for Erik’s ideas, but future Charles showed him the right way.

“Charles, we need you to hope again.” Present Charles nodded, leaning back.“I’d say give the past Crystal my love, but I believe she’s with us now.” The two chuckled, and in the edge of my peripheral (sort of) vision, I saw a very familiar figure with three unfamiliar ones, but we were out of Logan’s mind before I could get a good look at them. Back in our time, we got Cerebro going again. I kept my mental connection with Charles, I loved being in his mind while he used Cerebro. I didn’t have the mental control he did, so I needed him to use it. I helped him stay in control, and we went through our list of students and teachers, one by one, and told them to come back. After all of them, we looked for Alex. We found him on his bed, curled in a ball, his thoughts on the death of Sean. Erik had told us he was dead, but we didn’t know if Alex knew. They were _very_ close.

“That’s enough.” I helped Charles take off the headpiece. We had convinced Alex to come back, after he had shared some choice swear words with us. I helped Charles stand, his legs get wobbly after using Cerebro. Beside me, Logan clutched his head with a painful grunt.

“Sorry guys, but the timeline is changing, so I’ve got to go soon.” I cocked my head, and he easily read my question from my face. “I’ll be back to my past self again, so you’ll have a very confused me on your hands.” He shrugged and I got an idea.

“I could get you wherever you want pretty quickly, and it’ll test a theory of mine.” He nodded, slightly hesitant. I walked over to him, pressing a hand to his cheek, and closed my eyes. Reading his mind, I visualized where he wanted to go, and projected my teleportation onto him. I stood still, wondering if it had worked. I cracked an eye open, and Logan wasn’t there. “It worked!” I whooped, and the others laughed. Charles and I checked to see if Logan where he was supposed to be (he was only a town over), as Hank got Raven and Erik settled. Afterwards, we stood together outside Cerebro.

“Do you want to go check on the others, or rest?” I asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“I need a shave.” He mused, rubbing his chin. “Then a nap.” I laughed.

“Yes, a shave is definitely in order, but keep the hair, I like it long.”

“Does it remind you of the other me?” He teased, stroking my cheek. I furrowed my brows, pouting.

“Well, a _bit_ , but I think it suits you.” He chuckled, and kissed me softly. I scrunched my face at his slightly scratchy beard.

“Alright, I’ll keep the hair and lose the beard.” Chuckling, we nuzzled each other. Once we got cleaned up, we laid out on the bed. I traced swirling patterns on his chest, thinking about all I had done since I had accidentally gone back in time.

“Charles?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think I’ve changed too much?” He pushed himself onto his side.

“Why would you ever think that?” I shrugged, and he sighed, brushing his thumb over my lips. “Crystal, you did what you thought was right, that’s all you need to know.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he kissed me deeply, effectively silencing me. ‘Luv, there’s no need to have a deep moral discussion right now. We can talk about it all you want later, but _now_ , we both need rest.’ He rested his forehead on mine, staring into my eyes as his voice echoed in my mind. With a sigh, I relaxed.

‘Fine, I love you Charles.’

‘I love you too, Crystal.’ He laid back, and I snuggled up onto his chest. Charles gently stroked my cheek, until I drifted off. Seemingly only a few seconds later, I awoke with a start. I glanced around, getting my bearings. Under me, Charles was twitching, his face scrunched up. ‘So that’s it.’ I smiled softly, and got up onto my elbow, shifting up the bed. Level with his face, I stroked his hair, using my telepathy to calm him down. He had been plagued with nightmares ever since the war started, but pushed me away when I tried to help once he started taking the ‘cure.’ ‘I need to get rid of all of the serum Hank made just for Charles as soon as I can.’ I made a mental note. Slowly, his twitching ceased, and a soft smile replaced his scrunched up look. I gently brushed his hair from his forehead. He looked so calm when he slept, so relaxed. He has had too much weight on his shoulders, and it showed. I had teased him that he would get grey hairs at 30. Pressing a tender kiss to his temple, I hugged close to his side, but I must have been thinking too loud, because he cracked an eye open.

“Hello luv.” I hummed in response, pressing closer. “I must say, this is a marvelous way to wake up.” He rolled over to his side, pulling me to his chest. He yawned, and buried his face in my hair. I giggled a bit, kissing his neck.

“You’re adorable, you know that, right?” I teased, copying his accent. He just shook his head, nuzzling further into my hair.

“Hush.”

“Sure, sleepyhead.”

 


End file.
